diff --git a/trickle/local_subscriber_test.go b/trickle/local_subscriber_test.go
index caead1d739..3daec52d62 100644
--- a/trickle/local_subscriber_test.go
+++ b/trickle/local_subscriber_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"strconv"
 	"testing"
 )
 
@@ -82,3 +83,47 @@ func TestLocalSubscriber_OverrunSeq(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Nil(err)
 
 }
+
+func TestLocalSubscriber_PreconnectOnEmpty(t *testing.T) {
+	// Checks that the channel seq still increments even on zero-byte writes
+	require, url, server := makeServerWithServer(t)
+
+	pub, err := NewTricklePublisher(url)
+	require.Nil(err)
+	defer pub.Close()
+
+	sub := NewLocalSubscriber(server, "testest")
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+
+	go func() {
+		defer close(done)
+		require.Nil(pub.Write(bytes.NewReader([]byte("hello"))))
+		require.Nil(pub.Close())
+	}()
+
+	setSeqCount := 0
+
+	for i := 0; ; i++ {
+		sub.SetSeq(-1)
+		td, err := sub.Read()
+		if err != nil && err.Error() == "stream not found" {
+			// would be better if this would be EOS but roll with it for now
+			break
+		}
+		require.Nil(err)
+		require.Equal(strconv.Itoa(setSeqCount), td.Metadata["Lp-Trickle-Seq"])
+
+		n, err := io.Copy(io.Discard, td.Reader)
+		require.Nil(err)
+		if i == 0 {
+			require.Equal(5, int(n)) // first post - "hello"
+		} else {
+			// second post (preconnect) is cancelled, completed as a zero-byte segment
+			require.Equal(0, int(n))
+		}
+		setSeqCount++
+	}
+
+	<-done
+	require.Equal(2, setSeqCount)
+}
diff --git a/trickle/trickle_publisher.go b/trickle/trickle_publisher.go
index 9d4b844989..8d52aa9774 100644
--- a/trickle/trickle_publisher.go
+++ b/trickle/trickle_publisher.go
@@ -127,14 +127,6 @@ func (c *TricklePublisher) preconnect() (*pendingPost, error) {
 
 func (c *TricklePublisher) Close() error {
 
-	// Close any pending writers
-	c.writeLock.Lock()
-	pp := c.pendingPost
-	if pp != nil {
-		pp.writer.Close()
-	}
-	c.writeLock.Unlock()
-
 	req, err := http.NewRequest("DELETE", c.baseURL, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -149,6 +141,15 @@ func (c *TricklePublisher) Close() error {
 		body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 		return fmt.Errorf("Failed to delete stream: %v - %s", resp.Status, string(body))
 	}
+
+	// Close any pending writers
+	c.writeLock.Lock()
+	pp := c.pendingPost
+	if pp != nil {
+		pp.writer.Close()
+	}
+	c.writeLock.Unlock()
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/trickle/trickle_server.go b/trickle/trickle_server.go
index 22b75687b0..00221a8e17 100644
--- a/trickle/trickle_server.go
+++ b/trickle/trickle_server.go
@@ -415,6 +415,9 @@ func (s *Stream) handlePost(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, idx int) {
 				if totalRead <= 0 {
 					s.mutex.Lock()
 					isClosed := s.closed
+					// increment seq anyway: avoids clients erroring out on next seq
+					s.nextWrite = idx + 1
+					s.writeTime = time.Now()
 					s.mutex.Unlock()
 					if isClosed {
 						w.Header().Set("Lp-Trickle-Closed", "terminated")
@@ -467,8 +470,8 @@ func (s *Stream) getForWrite(idx int) (*Segment, bool) {
 }
 
 func (s *Stream) getForRead(idx int) (*Segment, int, bool, bool) {
-	s.mutex.RLock()
-	defer s.mutex.RUnlock()
+	s.mutex.Lock() // Lock instead of RLock since we may precreate the segment
+	defer s.mutex.Unlock()
 	exists := func(seg *Segment, i int) bool {
 		return seg != nil && seg.idx == i
 	}