diff --git a/hypervisor/manager/vm.go b/hypervisor/manager/vm.go
index 5bb5c3cd..16679f1a 100644
--- a/hypervisor/manager/vm.go
+++ b/hypervisor/manager/vm.go
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ func (m *Manager) createVm(conn *srpc.Conn, decoder srpc.Decoder,
 	ownerUsers := make([]string, 1, len(request.OwnerUsers)+1)
 	ownerUsers[0] = conn.Username()
 	if ownerUsers[0] == "" {
-		return errors.New("no authentication data")
+		return sendError(conn, encoder, errors.New("no authentication data"))
 	}
 	ownerUsers = append(ownerUsers, request.OwnerUsers...)
 	vm, err := m.allocateVm(request, conn.GetAuthInformation())
@@ -2167,6 +2167,8 @@ func (vm *vmInfoType) processMonitorResponses(monitorSock net.Conn) {
 	io.Copy(ioutil.Discard, monitorSock) // Read all and drop.
 	vm.mutex.Lock()
 	defer vm.mutex.Unlock()
+	close(vm.commandChannel)
+	vm.commandChannel = nil
 	switch vm.State {
 	case proto.StateStarting:
 		return
@@ -2190,7 +2192,6 @@ func (vm *vmInfoType) processMonitorResponses(monitorSock net.Conn) {
 	default:
 		vm.logger.Println("unknown state: " + vm.State.String())
 	}
-	close(vm.commandChannel)
 }
 
 func (vm *vmInfoType) rootLabel() string {
diff --git a/hypervisor/metadatad/daemons.go b/hypervisor/metadatad/daemons.go
index bcfcee21..6d284692 100644
--- a/hypervisor/metadatad/daemons.go
+++ b/hypervisor/metadatad/daemons.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"os/exec"
 	"runtime"
 	"strconv"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/Symantec/Dominator/lib/log"
 	"github.com/Symantec/Dominator/lib/log/prefixlogger"
@@ -22,6 +23,12 @@ type statusType struct {
 	err         error
 }
 
+func httpServe(listener net.Listener, handler http.Handler,
+	idleTimeout time.Duration) error {
+	httpServer := &http.Server{Handler: handler, IdleTimeout: idleTimeout}
+	return httpServer.Serve(listener)
+}
+
 func (s *server) startServer() error {
 	cmd := exec.Command("ebtables", "-t", "nat", "-F")
 	if output, err := cmd.CombinedOutput(); err != nil {
@@ -116,8 +123,8 @@ func (s *server) createNamespace(startChannel <-chan struct{},
 	}
 	statusChannel <- statusType{namespaceFd: namespaceFd, threadId: threadId}
 	logger.Printf("starting metadata server in thread: %d\n", threadId)
-	go http.Serve(hypervisorListener, nil)
-	http.Serve(metadataListener, s)
+	go httpServe(hypervisorListener, nil, time.Second*5)
+	httpServe(metadataListener, s, time.Second*5)
 }
 
 func createInterface(bridge net.Interface, threadId int,
diff --git a/hypervisor/rpcd/probeVmPort.go b/hypervisor/rpcd/probeVmPort.go
index 68a5b4a3..caa3f25b 100644
--- a/hypervisor/rpcd/probeVmPort.go
+++ b/hypervisor/rpcd/probeVmPort.go
@@ -21,8 +21,7 @@ func (t *srpcType) ProbeVmPort(conn *srpc.Conn,
 	ok, err := probeVmPort(
 		fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", request.IpAddress, request.PortNumber),
 		request.Timeout)
-	response := hypervisor.ProbeVmPortResponse{ok, errors.ErrorToString(err)}
-	*reply = response
+	*reply = hypervisor.ProbeVmPortResponse{ok, errors.ErrorToString(err)}
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -48,9 +47,10 @@ func probeVmPort(addr string, timeout time.Duration) (bool, error) {
 
 func probeOnce(addr string, okChannel chan<- struct{}) {
 	if conn, err := net.DialTimeout("tcp", addr, time.Second); err == nil {
+		conn.Close()
 		select {
 		case okChannel <- struct{}{}:
+		default:
 		}
-		conn.Close()
 	}
 }
diff --git a/lib/filesystem/util/api.go b/lib/filesystem/util/api.go
index 29c09c2d..f558bebb 100644
--- a/lib/filesystem/util/api.go
+++ b/lib/filesystem/util/api.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
-	"text/template"
 
 	"github.com/Symantec/Dominator/lib/filesystem"
 	"github.com/Symantec/Dominator/lib/log"
@@ -19,7 +18,6 @@ type BootInfoType struct {
 	KernelImageDirent *filesystem.DirectoryEntry
 	KernelImageFile   string
 	KernelOptions     string
-	grubTemplate      *template.Template
 }
 
 type ComputedFile struct {
diff --git a/lib/filesystem/util/writeRaw.go b/lib/filesystem/util/writeRaw.go
index 4d4aef78..946a0ef9 100644
--- a/lib/filesystem/util/writeRaw.go
+++ b/lib/filesystem/util/writeRaw.go
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ const (
 var (
 	mutex               sync.Mutex
 	defaultMkfsFeatures map[string]struct{} // Key: feature name.
+	grubTemplate        = template.Must(template.New("grub").Parse(
+		grubTemplateString))
 )
 
 func checkIfPartition(device string) (bool, error) {
@@ -381,11 +383,6 @@ func getBootInfo(fs *filesystem.FileSystem, rootLabel string,
 			bootInfo.KernelImageFile = "/boot/" + dirent.Name
 		}
 	}
-	bootInfo.grubTemplate, err = template.New("grub").Parse(
-		grubTemplateString)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
 	return bootInfo, nil
 }
 
@@ -436,7 +433,7 @@ func (bootInfo *BootInfoType) writeGrubConfig(filename string) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error creating GRUB config file: %s", err)
 	}
 	defer file.Close()
-	if err := bootInfo.grubTemplate.Execute(file, bootInfo); err != nil {
+	if err := grubTemplate.Execute(file, bootInfo); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	return file.Close()
diff --git a/lib/objectserver/cachingreader/get.go b/lib/objectserver/cachingreader/get.go
index 0c08135c..d1e08caa 100644
--- a/lib/objectserver/cachingreader/get.go
+++ b/lib/objectserver/cachingreader/get.go
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ func saveObject(filename string,
 	if size, reader, err := objectsReader.NextObject(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	} else {
+		defer reader.Close()
 		err := fsutil.CopyToFile(filename, privateFilePerms, reader, size)
 		if err == nil {
 			return nil
@@ -212,7 +213,7 @@ func timeoutFunction(f func(), timeout time.Duration) {
 		f()
 		return
 	}
-	completionChannel := make(chan struct{})
+	completionChannel := make(chan struct{}, 1)
 	go func() {
 		f()
 		completionChannel <- struct{}{}