diff --git a/zebra-network/src/peer/connection.rs b/zebra-network/src/peer/connection.rs
index a4dc892da..1bb8d2f24 100644
--- a/zebra-network/src/peer/connection.rs
+++ b/zebra-network/src/peer/connection.rs
@@ -190,7 +190,8 @@ where
                             self.handle_message_as_request(msg).await
                         }
                         Either::Right((None, _)) => {
-                            self.fail_with(PeerError::DeadClient);
+                            trace!("client_rx closed, ending connection");
+                            return;
                         }
                         Either::Right((Some(req), _)) => {
                             let span = req.span.clone();
diff --git a/zebra-network/src/peer/error.rs b/zebra-network/src/peer/error.rs
index 82b2a3eaa..7fe7e5355 100644
--- a/zebra-network/src/peer/error.rs
+++ b/zebra-network/src/peer/error.rs
@@ -26,10 +26,6 @@ pub enum PeerError {
     /// The remote peer closed the connection.
     #[error("Peer closed connection")]
     ConnectionClosed,
-    /// The [`peer::Client`] half of the [`peer::Client`]/[`peer::Server`] pair died before
-    /// the [`Server`] half did.
-    #[error("peer::Client instance died")]
-    DeadClient,
     /// The remote peer did not respond to a [`peer::Client`] request in time.
     #[error("Client request timed out")]
     ClientRequestTimeout,