diff --git a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/segment/realtime/firehose/IrcFirehoseFactory.java b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/segment/realtime/firehose/IrcFirehoseFactory.java
index c3890c56470..0f05ec012cf 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/io/druid/segment/realtime/firehose/IrcFirehoseFactory.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/io/druid/segment/realtime/firehose/IrcFirehoseFactory.java
@@ -39,11 +39,12 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.UUID;
 import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 /**
  * <p><b>Example code:</b></p>
  * <pre>{@code
- *
+ * <p/>
  * IrcFirehoseFactory factory = new IrcFirehoseFactory(
  *     "wiki123",
  *     "irc.wikimedia.org",
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ public class IrcFirehoseFactory implements FirehoseFactory<IrcInputRowParser>
   private final String nick;
   private final String host;
   private final List<String> channels;
+  private volatile boolean closed = false;
 
   @JsonCreator
   public IrcFirehoseFactory(
@@ -100,17 +102,21 @@ public class IrcFirehoseFactory implements FirehoseFactory<IrcInputRowParser>
     final IRCApi irc = new IRCApiImpl(false);
     final LinkedBlockingQueue<Pair<DateTime, ChannelPrivMsg>> queue = new LinkedBlockingQueue<Pair<DateTime, ChannelPrivMsg>>();
 
-    irc.addListener(new VariousMessageListenerAdapter() {
-      @Override
-      public void onChannelMessage(ChannelPrivMsg aMsg)
-      {
-        try {
-          queue.put(Pair.of(DateTime.now(), aMsg));
-        } catch(InterruptedException e) {
-          throw new RuntimeException("interrupted adding message to queue", e);
+    irc.addListener(
+        new VariousMessageListenerAdapter()
+        {
+          @Override
+          public void onChannelMessage(ChannelPrivMsg aMsg)
+          {
+            try {
+              queue.put(Pair.of(DateTime.now(), aMsg));
+            }
+            catch (InterruptedException e) {
+              throw new RuntimeException("interrupted adding message to queue", e);
+            }
+          }
         }
-      }
-    });
+    );
 
     log.info("connecting to irc server [%s]", host);
     irc.connect(
@@ -152,7 +158,7 @@ public class IrcFirehoseFactory implements FirehoseFactory<IrcInputRowParser>
           public void onSuccess(IIRCState aObject)
           {
             log.info("irc connection to server [%s] established", host);
-            for(String chan : channels) {
+            for (String chan : channels) {
               log.info("Joining channel %s", chan);
               irc.joinChannel(chan);
             }
@@ -164,8 +170,10 @@ public class IrcFirehoseFactory implements FirehoseFactory<IrcInputRowParser>
             log.error(e, "Unable to connect to irc server [%s]", host);
             throw new RuntimeException("Unable to connect to server", e);
           }
-        });
+        }
+    );
 
+    closed = false;
 
     return new Firehose()
     {
@@ -175,18 +183,26 @@ public class IrcFirehoseFactory implements FirehoseFactory<IrcInputRowParser>
       public boolean hasMore()
       {
         try {
-          while(true) {
-            Pair<DateTime, ChannelPrivMsg> nextMsg = queue.take();
+          while (true) {
+            Pair<DateTime, ChannelPrivMsg> nextMsg = queue.poll(100, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+            if (closed) {
+              return false;
+            }
+            if (nextMsg == null) {
+              continue;
+            }
             try {
               nextRow = firehoseParser.parse(nextMsg);
-              if(nextRow != null) return true;
+              if (nextRow != null) {
+                return true;
+              }
             }
             catch (IllegalArgumentException iae) {
               log.debug("ignoring invalid message in channel [%s]", nextMsg.rhs.getChannelName());
             }
           }
         }
-        catch(InterruptedException e) {
+        catch (InterruptedException e) {
           Thread.interrupted();
           throw new RuntimeException("interrupted retrieving elements from queue", e);
         }
@@ -214,8 +230,13 @@ public class IrcFirehoseFactory implements FirehoseFactory<IrcInputRowParser>
       @Override
       public void close() throws IOException
       {
-        log.info("disconnecting from irc server [%s]", host);
-        irc.disconnect("");
+        try {
+          log.info("disconnecting from irc server [%s]", host);
+          irc.disconnect("");
+        }
+        finally {
+          closed = true;
+        }
       }
     };
   }