diff --git a/src/pkg/net/http/serve_test.go b/src/pkg/net/http/serve_test.go
index 9aff467eedb..147c216ec78 100644
--- a/src/pkg/net/http/serve_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/net/http/serve_test.go
@@ -904,17 +904,13 @@ func testHandlerPanic(t *testing.T, withHijack bool) {
 		panic("intentional death for testing")
 	}))
 	defer ts.Close()
-	_, err := Get(ts.URL)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Logf("expected an error")
-	}
 
 	// Do a blocking read on the log output pipe so its logging
 	// doesn't bleed into the next test.  But wait only 5 seconds
 	// for it.
-	done := make(chan bool)
+	done := make(chan bool, 1)
 	go func() {
-		buf := make([]byte, 1024)
+		buf := make([]byte, 4<<10)
 		_, err := pr.Read(buf)
 		pr.Close()
 		if err != nil {
@@ -922,6 +918,12 @@ func testHandlerPanic(t *testing.T, withHijack bool) {
 		}
 		done <- true
 	}()
+
+	_, err := Get(ts.URL)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Logf("expected an error")
+	}
+
 	select {
 	case <-done:
 		return
diff --git a/src/pkg/net/http/server.go b/src/pkg/net/http/server.go
index 22ea8e31720..bad3bcb2896 100644
--- a/src/pkg/net/http/server.go
+++ b/src/pkg/net/http/server.go
@@ -569,14 +569,15 @@ func (c *conn) serve() {
 		if err == nil {
 			return
 		}
-		if c.rwc != nil { // may be nil if connection hijacked
-			c.rwc.Close()
-		}
 
 		var buf bytes.Buffer
 		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "http: panic serving %v: %v\n", c.remoteAddr, err)
 		buf.Write(debug.Stack())
 		log.Print(buf.String())
+
+		if c.rwc != nil { // may be nil if connection hijacked
+			c.rwc.Close()
+		}
 	}()
 
 	if tlsConn, ok := c.rwc.(*tls.Conn); ok {