diff --git a/acp/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/protocol/Protocol.kt b/acp/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/protocol/Protocol.kt
index 9f45cd0..0afa075 100644
--- a/acp/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/protocol/Protocol.kt
+++ b/acp/src/commonMain/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/protocol/Protocol.kt
@@ -173,9 +173,10 @@ public class Protocol(
         }
 
         // Start processing incoming messages
+        val messageChannel = transport.asMessageChannel()
         scope.launch(CoroutineName("${Protocol::class.simpleName!!}.read-messages")) {
             runCatching {
-                for (message in transport.asMessageChannel()) {
+                for (message in messageChannel) {
                     handleIncomingMessage(message)
                 }
             }.checkCancelled().onFailure {
diff --git a/acp/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/agent/TestAgent.kt b/acp/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/agent/TestAgent.kt
index f683774..acb4efe 100644
--- a/acp/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/agent/TestAgent.kt
+++ b/acp/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/agent/TestAgent.kt
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.flow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
 import kotlinx.serialization.json.JsonElement
 import kotlin.time.Duration
-import kotlin.time.Duration.Companion.milliseconds
 import kotlin.time.Duration.Companion.seconds
 
 class TestAgent(val agent: Agent, val agentSupport: TestAgentSupport, val transport: TestTransport) {
@@ -124,10 +123,6 @@ fun withTestAgent(
     val agentSupport = TestAgentSupport(promptHandler)
     val agent = Agent(protocol, agentSupport)
     protocol.start()
-
-    // wait a little after protocol start, if messages get sent right away they can get lost
-    delay(100.milliseconds)
-
     val testAgent = TestAgent(agent, agentSupport, transport)
     block(testAgent)
     testAgent.close()
diff --git a/acp/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/agent/TestTransport.kt b/acp/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/agent/TestTransport.kt
index ba025b4..c12593d 100644
--- a/acp/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/agent/TestTransport.kt
+++ b/acp/src/jvmTest/kotlin/com/agentclientprotocol/agent/TestTransport.kt
@@ -10,11 +10,8 @@ import com.agentclientprotocol.transport.BaseTransport
 import com.agentclientprotocol.transport.Transport
 import kotlinx.atomicfu.atomic
 import kotlinx.coroutines.async
+import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.Channel
 import kotlinx.coroutines.coroutineScope
-import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.MutableStateFlow
-import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.filterNotNull
-import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.toList
-import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.transformWhile
 import kotlinx.coroutines.withTimeoutOrNull
 import kotlinx.serialization.json.JsonElement
 import kotlin.time.Duration
@@ -22,19 +19,20 @@ import kotlin.time.Duration
 class TestTransport(val timeout: Duration) : BaseTransport() {
     private val requestId = atomic(0)
 
-    private val responseFlow: MutableStateFlow<JsonRpcMessage?> = MutableStateFlow(null)
+    private val responses = Channel<JsonRpcMessage>(capacity = Channel.UNLIMITED)
 
     override fun start() {
         _state.value = Transport.State.STARTED
     }
 
     override fun send(message: JsonRpcMessage) {
-        responseFlow.value = message
+        responses.trySend(message)
     }
 
     override fun close() {
         _state.value = Transport.State.CLOSING
         fireClose()
+        responses.close()
         _state.value = Transport.State.CLOSED
     }
 
@@ -42,23 +40,19 @@ class TestTransport(val timeout: Duration) : BaseTransport() {
         val reqId = RequestId.create(requestId.incrementAndGet())
         val jsonReq = JsonRpcRequest(reqId, methodName, params)
 
-        return try {
-            coroutineScope {
-                val responses = async {
-                    withTimeoutOrNull(timeout) {
-                        responseFlow.filterNotNull()
-                            .transformWhile {
-                                emit(it)
-                                it !is JsonRpcResponse
-                            }
-                            .toList()
+        return coroutineScope {
+            val responses = async {
+                withTimeoutOrNull(timeout) {
+                    buildList {
+                        do {
+                            val message = responses.receive()
+                            add(message)
+                        } while (message !is JsonRpcResponse)
                     }
                 }
-                fireMessage(jsonReq)
-                responses.await() ?: emptyList()
             }
-        } finally {
-            responseFlow.value = null
+            fireMessage(jsonReq)
+            responses.await() ?: emptyList()
         }
     }