diff --git a/messaging/msgq.cc b/messaging/msgq.cc
index 023b3b07fbe183..e821d15366a547 100644
--- a/messaging/msgq.cc
+++ b/messaging/msgq.cc
@@ -200,6 +200,10 @@ void msgq_init_subscriber(msgq_queue_t * q) {
     }
   }
 
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < NUM_READERS; i++){
+    q->read_fifos[i] = -1;
+  }
+
   q->read_fifo_path = "/dev/shm/fifo-";
   q->read_fifo_path += std::to_string(q->read_uid_local);
 
diff --git a/messaging/stress.py b/messaging/stress.py
index 88573723a0a826..388477c7bec942 100644
--- a/messaging/stress.py
+++ b/messaging/stress.py
@@ -1,8 +1,4 @@
-import time
-from messaging_pyx import Context, Poller, SubSocket, PubSocket # pylint: disable=no-name-in-module, import-error
-
-#21845
-#32767 after closing mmap fd
+from messaging_pyx import Context, SubSocket, PubSocket  # pylint: disable=no-name-in-module, import-error
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
   c = Context()
@@ -14,6 +10,5 @@
     sub_sock = SubSocket()
     sub_sock.connect(c, "controlsState")
 
-
     pub_sock.send(b'a')
     print(sub_sock.receive())