diff --git a/tensorpipe/transport/connection_impl_boilerplate.h b/tensorpipe/transport/connection_impl_boilerplate.h
index 2fb8d60f1..ec21b6075 100644
--- a/tensorpipe/transport/connection_impl_boilerplate.h
+++ b/tensorpipe/transport/connection_impl_boilerplate.h
@@ -126,8 +126,6 @@ class ConnectionImplBoilerplate : public std::enable_shared_from_this<TConn> {
   // Deal with an error.
   void handleError();
 
-  ClosingReceiver closingReceiver_;
-
   // A sequence number for the calls to read and write.
   uint64_t nextBufferBeingRead_{0};
   uint64_t nextBufferBeingWritten_{0};
@@ -145,9 +143,7 @@ ConnectionImplBoilerplate<TCtx, TList, TConn>::ConnectionImplBoilerplate(
     ConstructorToken /* unused */,
     std::shared_ptr<TCtx> context,
     std::string id)
-    : context_(std::move(context)),
-      id_(std::move(id)),
-      closingReceiver_(context_, context_->getClosingEmitter()) {}
+    : context_(std::move(context)), id_(std::move(id)) {}
 
 template <typename TCtx, typename TList, typename TConn>
 void ConnectionImplBoilerplate<TCtx, TList, TConn>::init() {
@@ -166,8 +162,6 @@ void ConnectionImplBoilerplate<TCtx, TList, TConn>::initFromLoop() {
     return;
   }
 
-  closingReceiver_.activate(*this);
-
   initImplFromLoop();
 }
 
diff --git a/tensorpipe/transport/context_impl_boilerplate.h b/tensorpipe/transport/context_impl_boilerplate.h
index fd3571fc5..1d9e421f7 100644
--- a/tensorpipe/transport/context_impl_boilerplate.h
+++ b/tensorpipe/transport/context_impl_boilerplate.h
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 #include <unordered_map>
 #include <utility>
 
-#include <tensorpipe/common/callback.h>
 #include <tensorpipe/common/defs.h>
 #include <tensorpipe/transport/connection_boilerplate.h>
 #include <tensorpipe/transport/listener_boilerplate.h>
@@ -55,8 +54,6 @@ class ContextImplBoilerplate : public virtual DeferredExecutor,
   // this must be called from within the loop.
   bool closed();
 
-  ClosingEmitter& getClosingEmitter();
-
   void setId(std::string id);
 
   void close();
@@ -77,7 +74,6 @@ class ContextImplBoilerplate : public virtual DeferredExecutor,
  private:
   std::atomic<bool> closed_{false};
   std::atomic<bool> joined_{false};
-  ClosingEmitter closingEmitter_;
 
   const std::string domainDescriptor_;
 
@@ -171,12 +167,6 @@ bool ContextImplBoilerplate<TCtx, TList, TConn>::closed() {
   return closed_;
 };
 
-template <typename TCtx, typename TList, typename TConn>
-ClosingEmitter& ContextImplBoilerplate<TCtx, TList, TConn>::
-    getClosingEmitter() {
-  return closingEmitter_;
-};
-
 template <typename TCtx, typename TList, typename TConn>
 void ContextImplBoilerplate<TCtx, TList, TConn>::setId(std::string id) {
   TP_VLOG(7) << "Transport context " << id_ << " was renamed to " << id;
@@ -191,7 +181,21 @@ void ContextImplBoilerplate<TCtx, TList, TConn>::close() {
     if (!closed_.exchange(true)) {
       TP_VLOG(7) << "Transport context " << id_ << " is closing";
 
-      closingEmitter_.close();
+      // Make a copy as they could unenroll themselves inline.
+      decltype(listeners_) listenersCopy = listeners_;
+      decltype(connections_) connectionsCopy = connections_;
+      // We call closeFromLoop, rather than just close, because we need these
+      // objects to transition _immediately_ to error, "atomically". If we just
+      // deferred closing to later, this could come after some already-enqueued
+      // operations that could try to access the context, which would be closed,
+      // and this could fail.
+      for (auto& iter : listenersCopy) {
+        iter.second->closeFromLoop();
+      }
+      for (auto& iter : connectionsCopy) {
+        iter.second->closeFromLoop();
+      }
+
       closeImpl();
 
       TP_VLOG(7) << "Transport context " << id_ << " done closing";
diff --git a/tensorpipe/transport/listener_impl_boilerplate.h b/tensorpipe/transport/listener_impl_boilerplate.h
index 94790a543..efb13a27b 100644
--- a/tensorpipe/transport/listener_impl_boilerplate.h
+++ b/tensorpipe/transport/listener_impl_boilerplate.h
@@ -104,8 +104,6 @@ class ListenerImplBoilerplate : public std::enable_shared_from_this<TList> {
   // Deal with an error.
   void handleError();
 
-  ClosingReceiver closingReceiver_;
-
   // A sequence number for the calls to accept.
   uint64_t nextConnectionBeingAccepted_{0};
 
@@ -113,6 +111,12 @@ class ListenerImplBoilerplate : public std::enable_shared_from_this<TList> {
   // create their identifiers based off this listener's identifier. They will
   // only be used for logging and debugging.
   std::atomic<uint64_t> connectionCounter_{0};
+
+  // Contexts do sometimes need to call directly into closeForLoop, in order to
+  // make sure that some of their operations can happen "atomically" on the
+  // connection, without possibly other operations occurring in between (e.g.,
+  // an error).
+  friend ContextImplBoilerplate<TCtx, TList, TConn>;
 };
 
 template <typename TCtx, typename TList, typename TConn>
@@ -120,9 +124,7 @@ ListenerImplBoilerplate<TCtx, TList, TConn>::ListenerImplBoilerplate(
     ConstructorToken /* unused */,
     std::shared_ptr<TCtx> context,
     std::string id)
-    : context_(std::move(context)),
-      id_(std::move(id)),
-      closingReceiver_(context_, context_->getClosingEmitter()) {}
+    : context_(std::move(context)), id_(std::move(id)) {}
 
 template <typename TCtx, typename TList, typename TConn>
 void ListenerImplBoilerplate<TCtx, TList, TConn>::init() {
@@ -141,8 +143,6 @@ void ListenerImplBoilerplate<TCtx, TList, TConn>::initFromLoop() {
     return;
   }
 
-  closingReceiver_.activate(*this);
-
   initImplFromLoop();
 }