diff --git a/whisper/peer.go b/whisper/peer.go
index 28abf42605..77e09becea 100644
--- a/whisper/peer.go
+++ b/whisper/peer.go
@@ -23,18 +23,14 @@ type peer struct {
 
 // newPeer creates and initializes a new whisper peer connection, returning either
 // the newly constructed link or a failure reason.
-func newPeer(host *Whisper, remote *p2p.Peer, rw p2p.MsgReadWriter) (*peer, error) {
-	p := &peer{
+func newPeer(host *Whisper, remote *p2p.Peer, rw p2p.MsgReadWriter) *peer {
+	return &peer{
 		host:  host,
 		peer:  remote,
 		ws:    rw,
 		known: set.New(),
 		quit:  make(chan struct{}),
 	}
-	if err := p.handshake(); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return p, nil
 }
 
 // start initiates the peer updater, periodically broadcasting the whisper packets
diff --git a/whisper/whisper.go b/whisper/whisper.go
index 5d6ee6e3b4..a48e1e380d 100644
--- a/whisper/whisper.go
+++ b/whisper/whisper.go
@@ -168,15 +168,9 @@ func (self *Whisper) Messages(id int) []*Message {
 // handlePeer is called by the underlying P2P layer when the whisper sub-protocol
 // connection is negotiated.
 func (self *Whisper) handlePeer(peer *p2p.Peer, rw p2p.MsgReadWriter) error {
-	// Create, initialize and start the whisper peer
-	whisperPeer, err := newPeer(self, peer, rw)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	whisperPeer.start()
-	defer whisperPeer.stop()
+	// Create the new peer and start tracking it
+	whisperPeer := newPeer(self, peer, rw)
 
-	// Start tracking the active peer
 	self.peerMu.Lock()
 	self.peers[whisperPeer] = struct{}{}
 	self.peerMu.Unlock()
@@ -186,6 +180,14 @@ func (self *Whisper) handlePeer(peer *p2p.Peer, rw p2p.MsgReadWriter) error {
 		delete(self.peers, whisperPeer)
 		self.peerMu.Unlock()
 	}()
+
+	// Run the peer handshake and state updates
+	if err := whisperPeer.handshake(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	whisperPeer.start()
+	defer whisperPeer.stop()
+
 	// Read and process inbound messages directly to merge into client-global state
 	for {
 		// Fetch the next packet and decode the contained envelopes