diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index a28248e9..a1e3ff6d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -584,7 +584,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand 0.8.5",
  "rand_chacha 0.3.1",
  "reqwest",
- "scopeguard",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "solana-lite-rpc-util",
diff --git a/bench/Cargo.toml b/bench/Cargo.toml
index 193cfe79..ebd586a7 100644
--- a/bench/Cargo.toml
+++ b/bench/Cargo.toml
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ spl-memo = "4.0.0"
 url = "*"
 reqwest = "0.11.26"
 lazy_static = "1.4.0"
-scopeguard = "1.2.0"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 bincode = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/bench/src/benches/rpc_interface.rs b/bench/src/benches/rpc_interface.rs
index 9b33b15f..f25f7c86 100644
--- a/bench/src/benches/rpc_interface.rs
+++ b/bench/src/benches/rpc_interface.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ use std::str::FromStr;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::time::Duration;
 use dashmap::mapref::multiple::RefMulti;
-use scopeguard::defer;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use serde_json::json;
 use solana_rpc_client_api::response::{Response, RpcBlockUpdate, RpcResponseContext, SlotUpdate};
@@ -66,8 +65,7 @@ pub async fn send_and_confirm_bulk_transactions(
     };
 
     // note: we get confirmed but never finaliized
-    let (tx_status_map, jh_collector) = start_tx_status_collector(tx_status_websocket_addr.clone(), payer_pubkey, CommitmentConfig::confirmed()).await;
-    defer!(jh_collector.abort());
+    let (tx_status_map, _jh_collector) = start_tx_status_collector(tx_status_websocket_addr.clone(), payer_pubkey, CommitmentConfig::confirmed()).await;
 
     let started_at = Instant::now();
     trace!(
diff --git a/bench/src/benches/tx_status_websocket_collector.rs b/bench/src/benches/tx_status_websocket_collector.rs
index 633b604e..c047589c 100644
--- a/bench/src/benches/tx_status_websocket_collector.rs
+++ b/bench/src/benches/tx_status_websocket_collector.rs
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ pub async fn start_tx_status_collector(ws_url: Url, payer_pubkey: Pubkey, commit
 
     let observed_transactions: Arc<DashMap<Signature, Slot>> = Arc::new(DashMap::with_capacity(64));
 
-    let observed_transactions_write = observed_transactions.clone();
+    let observed_transactions_write =  Arc::downgrade(&observed_transactions);
     let jh = tokio::spawn(async move {
         let started_at = Instant::now();
 
@@ -57,11 +57,15 @@ pub async fn start_tx_status_collector(ws_url: Url, payer_pubkey: Pubkey, commit
                     serde_json::from_str(&payload).unwrap();
                 let block_update = ws_result.params.result;
                 let slot = block_update.value.slot;
+                let Some(map) = observed_transactions_write.upgrade() else {
+                    debug!("observed_transactions map dropped - stopping task");
+                    return;
+                };
                 if let Some(tx_sigs_from_block) = block_update.value.block.and_then(|b| b.signatures) {
                     for tx_sig in tx_sigs_from_block {
                         let tx_sig = Signature::from_str(&tx_sig).unwrap();
                         debug!("Transaction signature found in block: {} - slot {}", tx_sig, slot);
-                        observed_transactions_write.entry(tx_sig).or_insert(slot);
+                        map.entry(tx_sig).or_insert(slot);
                     }
                 }
             }