diff --git a/stream.c b/stream.c
index fbbf5b7..1cd18ac 100644
--- a/stream.c
+++ b/stream.c
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ struct uncomp_thread{
 	uchar c_type;
 	sem_t complete;
 	sem_t ready;	/* Taken this thread's data so it can die */
-	sem_t free;
+	int busy;
 	int stream;
 } *ucthread;
 
@@ -71,20 +71,6 @@ retry:
 	}
 }
 
-static inline int trywait_sem(sem_t *s)
-{
-	int ret;
-
-retry:
-	if ((ret = sem_trywait(s)) == -1) {
-		if (errno == EINTR)
-			goto retry;
-		if (errno != EAGAIN)
-			fatal("sem_trywait");
-	}
-	return ret;
-}
-
 static inline void destroy_sem(sem_t *s)
 {
 	if (unlikely(sem_destroy(s)))
@@ -868,8 +854,6 @@ void *open_stream_in(int f, int n)
 
 	for (i = 0; i < total_threads; i++) {
 		init_sem(&ucthread[i].complete);
-		init_sem(&ucthread[i].free);
-		post_sem(&ucthread[i].free);
 		init_sem(&ucthread[i].ready);
 	}
 
@@ -1186,8 +1170,6 @@ fill_another:
 
 	sinfo->total_read += header_length;
 
-	/* Wait till the next thread is free */
-	wait_sem(&ucthread[s->uthread_no].free);
 	fsync(control.fd_out);
 
 	s_buf = malloc(u_len);
@@ -1206,6 +1188,8 @@ fill_another:
 	ucthread[s->uthread_no].stream = stream;
 	s->last_head = last_head;
 
+	/* List this thread as busy */
+	ucthread[s->uthread_no].busy = 1;
 	print_maxverbose("Starting thread %ld to decompress %lld bytes from stream %d\n",
 			 s->uthread_no, c_len, stream);
 	create_pthread(&threads[s->uthread_no], NULL, ucompthread, (void *)s->uthread_no);
@@ -1213,16 +1197,12 @@ fill_another:
 	if (++s->uthread_no == s->base_thread + s->total_threads)
 		s->uthread_no = s->base_thread;
 
-	/* Reached the end of this stream */
+	/* Reached the end of this stream, no more data to read in, otherwise
+	  * see if the next thread is free to grab more data */
 	if (!last_head)
 		s->eos = 1;
-	else if (s->uthread_no != s->unext_thread) {
-		/* See if the next thread is free as well */
-		if (!trywait_sem(&ucthread[s->uthread_no].free)) {
-			post_sem(&ucthread[s->uthread_no].free);
-			goto fill_another;
-		}
-	}
+	else if (s->uthread_no != s->unext_thread && !ucthread[s->uthread_no].busy)
+		goto fill_another;
 out:
 	/* "ready" tells the decompression thread we're ready for its data */
 	post_sem(&ucthread[s->unext_thread].ready);
@@ -1236,7 +1216,7 @@ out:
 	s->bufp = 0;
 
 	join_pthread(threads[s->unext_thread], NULL);
-	post_sem(&ucthread[s->unext_thread].free);
+	ucthread[s->unext_thread].busy = 0;
 	/* As the ready semaphore may or may not have been waited on in
 	 * ucompthread, we reset it regardless. */
 	init_sem(&ucthread[s->unext_thread].ready);
@@ -1334,9 +1314,7 @@ int close_stream_in(void *ss)
 		free(sinfo->s[i].buf);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < control.threads + 1; i++) {
-		wait_sem(&ucthread[i].free);
 		destroy_sem(&ucthread[i].complete);
-		destroy_sem(&ucthread[i].free);
 		destroy_sem(&ucthread[i].ready);
 	}