diff --git a/eventmq/jobmanager.py b/eventmq/jobmanager.py
index 95dce13..6579af2 100644
--- a/eventmq/jobmanager.py
+++ b/eventmq/jobmanager.py
@@ -222,7 +222,6 @@ def handle_response(self, resp):
 
         """
 
-        logger.debug(resp)
         pid = resp['pid']
 
         callback = getattr(self, resp['callback'])
@@ -282,17 +281,35 @@ def on_request(self, msgid, msg):
         self.request_queue.put(payload)
 
     def premature_death(self, reply, msgid):
+        """
+        Worker died before running any jobs
+        """
         return
 
     def worker_death(self, reply, msgid):
-        return
+        """
+        Worker died of natural causes, if we're actively running,
+        tell the broker a slot opened up
+        """
+        if self.status == STATUS.running:
+            self.send_ready()
 
     def worker_done_with_reply(self, reply, msgid):
-        reply = serializer(reply)
+        """
+        Worker finished a job and requested the return value
+        """
+        try:
+            reply = serializer(reply)
+        except TypeError as e:
+            reply = {"value": str(e)}
+
         self.send_reply(reply, msgid)
         self.send_ready()
 
-    def worker_done(self, msgid):
+    def worker_done(self, reply, msgid):
+        """
+        Worker finished a job, notify broker of an additional slot opening
+        """
         self.send_ready()
 
     def send_ready(self):
diff --git a/eventmq/worker.py b/eventmq/worker.py
index 82a110c..e413f1d 100644
--- a/eventmq/worker.py
+++ b/eventmq/worker.py
@@ -107,13 +107,16 @@ def run(self):
         import zmq
         zmq.Context.instance().term()
 
+        callback = 'premature_death'
+
         # Main execution loop, only break in cases that we can't recover from
         # or we reach job count limit
         while True:
             try:
-                payload = self.input_queue.get(block=False, timeout=1000)
+                payload = self.input_queue.get(timeout=1)
                 if payload == 'DONE':
                     break
+
             except Queue.Empty:
                 if os.getppid() != self.ppid:
                     break
@@ -121,6 +124,7 @@ def run(self):
             except Exception as e:
                 break
             finally:
+                # If I'm an orphan, die
                 if os.getppid() != self.ppid:
                     break
 
@@ -140,6 +144,7 @@ def run(self):
 
                 if worker_thread.isAlive():
                     worker_thread.stop()
+                    # TODO: this should actually kill the process
                     return_val = 'TimeoutError'
 
                 try:
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ae0e828..7f20f22 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name='eventmq',
-    version='0.3.4',
+    version='0.3.4.1',
     description='EventMQ job execution and messaging system based on ZeroMQ',
     packages=find_packages(),
     install_requires=['pyzmq==15.4.0',