diff --git a/src/process_messages.jl b/src/process_messages.jl
index 3032917..192d497 100644
--- a/src/process_messages.jl
+++ b/src/process_messages.jl
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ function message_handler_loop(r_stream::IO, w_stream::IO, incoming::Bool)
 
         readbytes!(r_stream, boundary, length(MSG_BOUNDARY))
 
-        while true
+        while !(incoming && eof(r_stream))
             reset_state(serializer)
             header = deserialize_hdr_raw(r_stream)
             # println("header: ", header)
diff --git a/test/persistent_workers.jl b/test/persistent_workers.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd5c058
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/persistent_workers.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+include("testhelpers/PersistentWorkers.jl")
+using .PersistentWorkers
+using Test
+using Random
+using DistributedNext
+
+@testset "PersistentWorkers.jl" begin
+    cookie = randstring(16)
+    port = rand(9128:9999) # TODO: make sure port is available?
+    helpers_path = joinpath(@__DIR__, "testhelpers", "PersistentWorkers.jl")
+    cmd = `$(Base.julia_exename()) --startup=no --project=$(Base.active_project()) -L $(helpers_path) -e "using .PersistentWorkers; wait(start_worker_loop($port; cluster_cookie=$(repr(cookie)))[1])"`
+    worker = run(pipeline(cmd; stdout, stderr); wait=false)
+    try
+    @show worker.cmd
+    cluster_cookie(cookie)
+    sleep(10)
+
+    p = addprocs(PersistentWorkerManager(port))[]
+    @test procs() == [1, p]
+    @test workers() == [p]
+    @test remotecall_fetch(myid, p) == p
+    rmprocs(p)
+    @test procs() == [1]
+    @test workers() == [1]
+    @test process_running(worker)
+    # this shouldn't error
+    @everywhere 1+1
+
+    # try the same thing again for the same worker
+    p = addprocs(PersistentWorkerManager(port))[]
+    @test procs() == [1, p]
+    @test workers() == [p]
+    @test remotecall_fetch(myid, p) == p
+    rmprocs(p)
+    @test procs() == [1]
+    @test workers() == [1]
+    @test process_running(worker)
+    # this shouldn't error
+    @everywhere 1+1
+    finally
+        kill(worker)
+        wait(worker)
+    end
+end
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index d34d07c..8d00864 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -1,14 +1,15 @@
 # This file is a part of Julia. License is MIT: https://julialang.org/license
 
-# Run the distributed test outside of the main driver since it needs its own
-# set of dedicated workers.
-include(joinpath(Sys.BINDIR, "..", "share", "julia", "test", "testenv.jl"))
-disttestfile = joinpath(@__DIR__, "distributed_exec.jl")
+# # Run the distributed test outside of the main driver since it needs its own
+# # set of dedicated workers.
+# include(joinpath(Sys.BINDIR, "..", "share", "julia", "test", "testenv.jl"))
+# disttestfile = joinpath(@__DIR__, "distributed_exec.jl")
 
-cmd = `$test_exename $test_exeflags $disttestfile`
+# cmd = `$test_exename $test_exeflags $disttestfile`
 
-if !success(pipeline(cmd; stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr)) && ccall(:jl_running_on_valgrind,Cint,()) == 0
-    error("Distributed test failed, cmd : $cmd")
-end
+# if !success(pipeline(cmd; stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr)) && ccall(:jl_running_on_valgrind,Cint,()) == 0
+#     error("Distributed test failed, cmd : $cmd")
+# end
 
-include("managers.jl")
+# include("managers.jl")
+include("persistent_workers.jl")
diff --git a/test/testhelpers/PersistentWorkers.jl b/test/testhelpers/PersistentWorkers.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c79f7bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/testhelpers/PersistentWorkers.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+module PersistentWorkers
+
+using DistributedNext: DistributedNext, ClusterManager, WorkerConfig, worker_from_id, set_worker_state, W_TERMINATED
+using Sockets: InetAddr, localhost
+
+export PersistentWorkerManager, start_worker_loop
+
+struct PersistentWorkerManager{IP} <: ClusterManager
+    addr::InetAddr{IP}
+end
+
+PersistentWorkerManager(host, port::Integer) = PersistentWorkerManager(InetAddr(host, port))
+PersistentWorkerManager(port::Integer) = PersistentWorkerManager(localhost, port)
+
+function DistributedNext.launch(cm::PersistentWorkerManager, ::Dict, launched::Array, launch_ntfy::Base.GenericCondition{Base.AlwaysLockedST})
+    (; host, port) = cm.addr
+    wc = WorkerConfig()
+    wc.io = nothing
+    wc.host = string(host)
+    wc.bind_addr = string(host)
+    wc.port = Int(port)
+    push!(launched, wc)
+    notify(launch_ntfy)
+    return nothing
+end
+
+function DistributedNext.manage(::PersistentWorkerManager, ::Int, ::WorkerConfig, ::Symbol) end
+
+# don't actually kill the worker, just close the streams
+function Base.kill(::PersistentWorkerManager, pid::Int, ::WorkerConfig)
+    w = worker_from_id(pid)
+    close(w.r_stream)
+    close(w.w_stream)
+    set_worker_state(w, W_TERMINATED)
+    return nothing
+end
+
+using DistributedNext: LPROC, init_worker, process_messages, cluster_cookie
+using Sockets: IPAddr, listen, listenany, accept
+
+function start_worker_loop(host::IPAddr, port::Union{Nothing, Integer}; cluster_cookie=cluster_cookie())
+    init_worker(cluster_cookie)
+    LPROC.bind_addr = string(host)
+    if port === nothing
+        port_hint = 9000 + (getpid() % 1000)
+        port, sock = listenany(host, UInt16(port_hint))
+    else
+        sock = listen(host, port)
+    end
+    LPROC.bind_port = port
+    t = let sock=sock
+        @async while isopen(sock)
+            client = accept(sock)
+            process_messages(client, client, true)
+        end
+    end
+    errormonitor(t)
+    @info "Listening on $host:$port, cluster_cookie=$cluster_cookie"
+    return t, host, port
+end
+
+function start_worker_loop((; host, port)::InetAddr; cluster_cookie=cluster_cookie())
+    return start_worker_loop(host, port; cluster_cookie)
+end
+
+function start_worker_loop(port::Union{Nothing, Integer}=nothing; cluster_cookie=cluster_cookie())
+    return start_worker_loop(localhost, port; cluster_cookie)
+end
+
+end