diff --git a/crates/re_sdk_comms/src/buffered_client.rs b/crates/re_sdk_comms/src/buffered_client.rs
index 2828d7585e8b..ed6a389fde1a 100644
--- a/crates/re_sdk_comms/src/buffered_client.rs
+++ b/crates/re_sdk_comms/src/buffered_client.rs
@@ -196,11 +196,23 @@ fn msg_encode(
                         MsgMsg::Flush => PacketMsg::Flush,
                     };
 
-                    packet_tx
-                        .send(packet_msg)
-                        .expect("tcp_sender thread should live longer");
+                    // TODO(jleibs): It's not clear why we're hitting this case, but an error here is still better than
+                    // a panic. See: https://github.com/rerun-io/rerun/issues/1855
+                    match packet_tx.send(packet_msg) {
+                        Ok(_) => {},
+                        Err(_) => {
+                            re_log::error!("Failed to send message to tcp_sender thread. Likely a shutdown race-condition.");
+                        },
+                    };
 
-                    msg_drop_tx.send(msg_msg).expect("Main thread should still be alive");
+                    // TODO(jleibs): It's not clear why we're hitting this case, but an error here is still better than
+                    // a panic. See: https://github.com/rerun-io/rerun/issues/1855
+                    match msg_drop_tx.send(msg_msg) {
+                        Ok(_) => {},
+                        Err(_) => {
+                            re_log::error!("Failed to send message to msg_dropp thread. Likely a shutdown race-condition");
+                        },
+                    };
                 } else {
                     return; // channel has closed
                 }