diff --git a/convex-peer/src/main/java/convex/peer/BeliefPropagator.java b/convex-peer/src/main/java/convex/peer/BeliefPropagator.java
index c7d988cdb..9ba7e5798 100644
--- a/convex-peer/src/main/java/convex/peer/BeliefPropagator.java
+++ b/convex-peer/src/main/java/convex/peer/BeliefPropagator.java
@@ -276,37 +276,27 @@ protected boolean maybeMergeBeliefs(Belief... newBeliefs) {
 	 */
 	private Belief awaitBelief() throws InterruptedException {
 		ArrayList<Message> beliefMessages=new ArrayList<>();
-		try {
 		
-			// if we did a belief merge recently, pause for a bit to await more Beliefs
-			LoadMonitor.down();
-			Message firstEvent=beliefQueue.poll(AWAIT_BELIEFS_PAUSE, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
-			LoadMonitor.up();
-			if (firstEvent==null) return null; // nothing arrived
-			
-			beliefMessages.add(firstEvent);
-			beliefQueue.drainTo(beliefMessages); 
-			HashMap<AccountKey,SignedData<Order>> newOrders=belief.getOrdersHashMap();
-			// log.info("Merging Beliefs: "+allBeliefs.size());
-			
-			boolean anyOrderChanged=false;
-			for (Message m: beliefMessages) {
-				boolean changed=mergeBeliefMessage(newOrders,m);
-				if (changed) anyOrderChanged=true;
-			}
-			if (!anyOrderChanged) return null;
-			
-			Belief newBelief= Belief.create(newOrders);
-			return newBelief;
-			
-		} catch (InterruptedException e) {
-			// This is expected sometimes, e.g. peer shutdown
-			throw e;
-		} catch (Exception e) {
-			// we didn't expect this!
-			log.warn("UNEXPECTED error awaiting Belief",e);
-			return null;
+		// if we did a belief merge recently, pause for a bit to await more Beliefs
+		LoadMonitor.down();
+		Message firstEvent=beliefQueue.poll(AWAIT_BELIEFS_PAUSE, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+		LoadMonitor.up();
+		if (firstEvent==null) return null; // nothing arrived
+		
+		beliefMessages.add(firstEvent);
+		beliefQueue.drainTo(beliefMessages); 
+		HashMap<AccountKey,SignedData<Order>> newOrders=belief.getOrdersHashMap();
+		// log.info("Merging Beliefs: "+allBeliefs.size());
+		
+		boolean anyOrderChanged=false;
+		for (Message m: beliefMessages) {
+			boolean changed=mergeBeliefMessage(newOrders,m);
+			if (changed) anyOrderChanged=true;
 		}
+		if (!anyOrderChanged) return null;
+		
+		Belief newBelief= Belief.create(newOrders);
+		return newBelief;
 	}
 	
 
diff --git a/convex-peer/src/test/java/convex/peer/TestNetwork.java b/convex-peer/src/test/java/convex/peer/TestNetwork.java
index ae2f081cd..55347f490 100644
--- a/convex-peer/src/test/java/convex/peer/TestNetwork.java
+++ b/convex-peer/src/test/java/convex/peer/TestNetwork.java
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 package convex.peer;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
@@ -16,6 +18,7 @@
 import convex.core.crypto.AKeyPair;
 import convex.core.data.AccountKey;
 import convex.core.data.Address;
+import convex.core.exceptions.ResultException;
 import convex.core.init.Init;
 import convex.core.util.Utils;
 
@@ -98,8 +101,11 @@ public synchronized ConvexRemote getClient(AKeyPair kp) {
 			network.CONVEX.transferSync(addr, Coin.GOLD);
 			ConvexRemote client=Convex.connect(network.SERVER.getHostAddress(),addr,kp);
 			return client;
-		} catch (Exception t) {
+		} catch (IOException | ResultException | TimeoutException t) {
 			throw Utils.sneakyThrow(t);
+		} catch (InterruptedException e) {
+			Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+			return null;
 		}
 	}