diff --git a/swift/obj/ssync_receiver.py b/swift/obj/ssync_receiver.py
index 55b77e33e2..78bd87f229 100644
--- a/swift/obj/ssync_receiver.py
+++ b/swift/obj/ssync_receiver.py
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ from swift.common import request_helpers
 from swift.common.utils import Timestamp
 
 
+class SsyncClientDisconnected(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
 def decode_missing(line):
     """
     Parse a string of the form generated by
@@ -174,6 +178,9 @@ class Receiver(object):
                 finally:
                     if self.app.replication_semaphore:
                         self.app.replication_semaphore.release()
+            except SsyncClientDisconnected:
+                self.app.logger.error('ssync client disconnected')
+                self.disconnect = True
             except exceptions.LockTimeout as err:
                 self.app.logger.debug(
                     '%s/%s/%s SSYNC LOCK TIMEOUT: %s' % (
@@ -353,6 +360,9 @@ class Receiver(object):
         fill up and block everything.
         """
         line = self._readline('missing_check start')
+        if not line:
+            # Guess they hung up
+            raise SsyncClientDisconnected
         if line.strip() != b':MISSING_CHECK: START':
             raise Exception(
                 'Looking for :MISSING_CHECK: START got %r' % line[:1024])
@@ -413,6 +423,9 @@ class Receiver(object):
         of place partition, for example.
         """
         line = self._readline('updates start')
+        if not line:
+            # Guess they hung up waiting for us to process the missing check
+            raise SsyncClientDisconnected
         if line.strip() != b':UPDATES: START':
             raise Exception('Looking for :UPDATES: START got %r' % line[:1024])
         successes = 0
diff --git a/test/unit/obj/test_ssync_receiver.py b/test/unit/obj/test_ssync_receiver.py
index 994b582e67..674b040b7b 100644
--- a/test/unit/obj/test_ssync_receiver.py
+++ b/test/unit/obj/test_ssync_receiver.py
@@ -64,7 +64,9 @@ class TestReceiver(unittest.TestCase):
             'replication_concurrency_per_device': '0',
             'log_requests': 'false'}
         utils.mkdirs(os.path.join(self.testdir, 'device', 'partition'))
-        self.controller = server.ObjectController(self.conf)
+        self.logger = debug_logger()
+        self.controller = server.ObjectController(
+            self.conf, logger=self.logger)
         self.controller.bytes_per_sync = 1
 
         self.account1 = 'a'
@@ -417,15 +419,12 @@ class TestReceiver(unittest.TestCase):
             req = swob.Request.blank(
                 '/device/partition', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'SSYNC'})
             resp = req.get_response(self.controller)
-            if six.PY2:
-                got = b"''"
-            else:
-                got = b"b''"
-            self.assertEqual(self.body_lines(resp.body), [
-                b':ERROR: 0 "Looking for :MISSING_CHECK: START got %s"' % got])
+            self.assertEqual(resp.body, b'\r\n')
             self.assertEqual(resp.status_int, 200)
             mocked_replication_semaphore.acquire.assert_called_once_with(0)
             mocked_replication_semaphore.release.assert_called_once_with()
+            error_lines = self.logger.get_lines_for_level('error')
+            self.assertEqual(['ssync client disconnected'], error_lines)
 
         with mock.patch.object(
                 self.controller, 'replication_semaphore') as \
@@ -441,7 +440,7 @@ class TestReceiver(unittest.TestCase):
             self.assertFalse(mocked_replication_semaphore.acquire.called)
             self.assertFalse(mocked_replication_semaphore.release.called)
 
-    def test_SSYNC_mount_check(self):
+    def test_SSYNC_mount_check_isdir(self):
         with mock.patch.object(self.controller, 'replication_semaphore'), \
                 mock.patch.object(
                     self.controller._diskfile_router[POLICIES.legacy],
@@ -450,15 +449,13 @@ class TestReceiver(unittest.TestCase):
             req = swob.Request.blank(
                 '/device/partition', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'SSYNC'})
             resp = req.get_response(self.controller)
-            if six.PY2:
-                got = b"''"
-            else:
-                got = b"b''"
-            self.assertEqual(self.body_lines(resp.body), [
-                b':ERROR: 0 "Looking for :MISSING_CHECK: START got %s"' % got])
+            self.assertEqual(resp.body, b'\r\n')
             self.assertEqual(resp.status_int, 200)
             self.assertEqual([], mocks['ismount'].call_args_list)
+            error_lines = self.logger.get_lines_for_level('error')
+            self.assertEqual(['ssync client disconnected'], error_lines)
 
+    def test_SSYNC_mount_check(self):
         with mock.patch.object(self.controller, 'replication_semaphore'), \
                 mock.patch.object(
                     self.controller._diskfile_router[POLICIES.legacy],
@@ -482,16 +479,13 @@ class TestReceiver(unittest.TestCase):
             req = swob.Request.blank(
                 '/device/partition', environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'SSYNC'})
             resp = req.get_response(self.controller)
-            if six.PY2:
-                got = b"''"
-            else:
-                got = b"b''"
-            self.assertEqual(self.body_lines(resp.body), [
-                b':ERROR: 0 "Looking for :MISSING_CHECK: START got %s"' % got])
+            self.assertEqual(resp.body, b'\r\n')
             self.assertEqual(resp.status_int, 200)
             self.assertEqual([mock.call(os.path.join(
                 self.controller._diskfile_router[POLICIES.legacy].devices,
                 'device'))] * 2, mocks['ismount'].call_args_list)
+            error_lines = self.logger.get_lines_for_level('error')
+            self.assertEqual(['ssync client disconnected'], error_lines)
 
     def test_SSYNC_Exception(self):
 
@@ -1037,6 +1031,24 @@ class TestReceiver(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertFalse(self.controller.logger.error.called)
         self.assertFalse(self.controller.logger.exception.called)
 
+    def test_UPDATES_no_start(self):
+        # verify behavior when the sender disconnects and does not send
+        # ':UPDATES: START' e.g. if a sender timeout pops while waiting for
+        # receiver response to missing checks
+        self.controller.logger = mock.MagicMock()
+        req = swob.Request.blank(
+            '/device/partition',
+            environ={'REQUEST_METHOD': 'SSYNC'},
+            body=':MISSING_CHECK: START\r\n:MISSING_CHECK: END\r\n')
+        req.remote_addr = '2.3.4.5'
+        resp = req.get_response(self.controller)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            self.body_lines(resp.body),
+            [b':MISSING_CHECK: START', b':MISSING_CHECK: END'])
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_int, 200)
+        self.controller.logger.error.assert_called_once_with(
+            'ssync client disconnected')
+
     def test_UPDATES_timeout(self):
 
         class _Wrapper(io.BytesIO):