diff --git a/ctdb/config/functions b/ctdb/config/functions
index aab7a143529..7c28e4ce04b 100755
--- a/ctdb/config/functions
+++ b/ctdb/config/functions
@@ -464,29 +464,21 @@ kill_tcp_connections ()
 	    return
 	fi
 
-	echo "$_connections" | ctdb killtcp || {
-	    echo "Failed to send killtcp control"
-	    return
+	echo "$_connections" | \
+		"${CTDB_HELPER_BINDIR}/ctdb_killtcp" "$_iface" || {
+		echo "Failed to kill TCP connections"
+		return
 	}
 
-	_count=0
-	while : ; do
-	    _remaining=$(get_tcp_connections_for_ip $_ip | wc -l)
+	_remaining=$(get_tcp_connections_for_ip $_ip | wc -l)
 
-	    if [ $_remaining -eq 0 ] ; then
+	if [ $_remaining -eq 0 ] ; then
 		echo "Killed $_killcount TCP connections to released IP $_ip"
 		return
-	    fi
+	fi
 
-	    _count=$(($_count + 1))
-	    if [ $_count -gt 3 ] ; then
-		echo "Timed out killing tcp connections for IP $_ip ($_remaining remaining)"
-		return
-	    fi
-
-	    echo "Waiting for $_remaining connections to be killed for IP $_ip"
-	    sleep 1
-	done
+	_t="${_remaining}/${_killcount}"
+	echo "Failed to kill TCP connections for IP $_ip (${_t} remaining)"
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/ctdb/tests/eventscripts/10.interface.releaseip.011.sh b/ctdb/tests/eventscripts/10.interface.releaseip.011.sh
index e1514eea880..6203b97e2f5 100755
--- a/ctdb/tests/eventscripts/10.interface.releaseip.011.sh
+++ b/ctdb/tests/eventscripts/10.interface.releaseip.011.sh
@@ -31,10 +31,7 @@ while read dev ip bits ; do
     ok <<EOF
 Killing TCP connection 10.254.254.1:43210 ${ip}:445
 $out
-Waiting for 1 connections to be killed for IP ${ip}
-Waiting for 1 connections to be killed for IP ${ip}
-Waiting for 1 connections to be killed for IP ${ip}
-Timed out killing tcp connections for IP $ip (1 remaining)
+Failed to kill TCP connections for IP 10.0.0.3 (1/11 remaining)
 EOF
 
     simple_test $dev $ip $bits
diff --git a/ctdb/tests/eventscripts/stubs/ctdb_killtcp b/ctdb/tests/eventscripts/stubs/ctdb_killtcp
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..cb5b6e57374
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ctdb/tests/eventscripts/stubs/ctdb_killtcp
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Only supports reading from stdin
+
+iface="$1"  # ignored
+
+while read src dst ; do
+	sed -i -e "/^${dst} ${src}\$/d" "$FAKE_NETSTAT_TCP_ESTABLISHED_FILE"
+done