diff --git a/fm.c b/fm.c
index 150bbaa5..9cd0aef0 100644
--- a/fm.c
+++ b/fm.c
@@ -65,11 +65,7 @@ void *demod_fm(void *arg){
 
   realtime();
 
-  while(!chan->terminate){
-    int rval = downconvert(chan);
-    if(rval != 0)
-      break;
-
+  while(downconvert(chan) == 0){
     if(power_squelch && squelch_state == 0){
       // quick check SNR from raw signal power to save time on variance-based squelch
       // Variance squelch is still needed to suppress various spurs and QRM
@@ -262,6 +258,6 @@ void *demod_fm(void *arg){
     chan->output.energy += output_level;
     if(send_output(chan,baseband,N,false) < 0)
       break; // no valid output stream; terminate!
-  } // while(!chan->terminate)
+  }
   return NULL;
 }
diff --git a/linear.c b/linear.c
index 22581cda..22ae5d0c 100644
--- a/linear.c
+++ b/linear.c
@@ -56,11 +56,7 @@ void *demod_linear(void *arg){
 
   realtime();
 
-  while(!chan->terminate){
-    int rval = downconvert(chan);
-    if(rval != 0)
-      break;
-
+  while(downconvert(chan) == 0){
     int const N = chan->filter.out.olen; // Number of raw samples in filter output buffer
 
     // First pass over sample block.
diff --git a/radio.c b/radio.c
index d34b612a..5c9aee8e 100644
--- a/radio.c
+++ b/radio.c
@@ -505,11 +505,10 @@ int downconvert(struct channel *chan){
 
   while(true){
     // Should we die?
-    // Won't work correctly if 0 Hz is outside front end coverage
-    // Should make this cleaner
+    // Will be slower if 0 Hz is outside front end coverage because of slow timed wait below
+    // But at least it will eventually go away
     if(chan->tune.freq == 0 && chan->lifetime > 0){
-      chan->lifetime--;
-      if(chan->lifetime <= 0){
+      if(--chan->lifetime <= 0){
 	chan->demod_type = -1;  // No demodulator
 	return -1; // terminate needed
       }
@@ -547,10 +546,6 @@ int downconvert(struct channel *chan){
     // end status changes rather than process zeroes. We must still poll the terminate flag.
     pthread_mutex_lock(&Frontend.status_mutex);
 
-    if(chan->terminate){
-      pthread_mutex_unlock(&Frontend.status_mutex);
-      return -1;
-    }
     chan->tune.second_LO = Frontend.frequency - chan->tune.freq;
     double const freq = chan->tune.doppler + chan->tune.second_LO; // Total logical oscillator frequency
     if(compute_tuning(Frontend.in.ilen + Frontend.in.impulse_length - 1,
diff --git a/radio.h b/radio.h
index 8efcdbd2..6c42df57 100644
--- a/radio.h
+++ b/radio.h
@@ -246,9 +246,6 @@ struct channel {
   } sap;
 
   pthread_t demod_thread;
-  // Set this flag to ask demod_thread to terminate.
-  // pthread_cancel() can't be used because we're usually waiting inside of a mutex, and deadlock will occur
-  bool terminate;
   float tp1,tp2; // Spare test points that can be read on the status channel
 };
 
diff --git a/spectrum.c b/spectrum.c
index 92a02b6c..b1122a23 100644
--- a/spectrum.c
+++ b/spectrum.c
@@ -68,11 +68,7 @@ void *demod_spectrum(void *arg){
   set_freq(chan,chan->tune.freq); // retune front end if needed to cover requested bandwidth
 
   // Still need to clean up code to force radio freq to be multiple of FFT bin spacing
-  while(!chan->terminate){
-    int rval = downconvert(chan);
-    if(rval != 0)
-      break;
-
+  while(downconvert(chan) == 0){
     int binp = 0; 
     for(int i=0; i < chan->spectrum.bin_count; i++){ // For each noncoherent integration bin above center freq
       float p = 0;
diff --git a/wfm.c b/wfm.c
index 46c6b585..cfc6bcd8 100644
--- a/wfm.c
+++ b/wfm.c
@@ -112,11 +112,7 @@ void *demod_wfm(void *arg){
 
   realtime();
 
-  while(!chan->terminate){
-    int rval = downconvert(chan);
-    if(rval != 0)
-      break;
-
+  while(downconvert(chan) == 0){
     if(power_squelch && squelch_state == 0){
       // quick check SNR from raw signal power to save time on variance-based squelch
       // Variance squelch is still needed to suppress various spurs and QRM
@@ -281,7 +277,7 @@ void *demod_wfm(void *arg){
 	break; // No output stream! Terminate
       chan->output.channels = channels_save;
     }
-  } // while(!chan->terminate)
+  }
  quit:;
   delete_filter_output(&mono);
   delete_filter_output(&lminusr);