diff --git a/wgengine/monitor/monitor_linux.go b/wgengine/monitor/monitor_linux.go
index 8dc75840b..e882e841d 100644
--- a/wgengine/monitor/monitor_linux.go
+++ b/wgengine/monitor/monitor_linux.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/mdlayher/netlink"
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ func newOSMon() (osMon, error) {
 }
 
 func (c *nlConn) Close() error {
+	c.conn.SetDeadline(time.Unix(0, 0)) // abort any Receive in flight
 	return c.conn.Close()
 }