client.go  |  6 +-----
 piece.go   | 26 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 reader.go  |  6 +-----
 torrent.go |  6 +-----

diff --git a/client.go b/client.go
index 007186e91fd1613c4cae86ca84b3db98cea7f4fc..422180deed3345ef38f618a7afcd6fd0bb2d5fa5 100644
--- a/client.go
+++ b/client.go
@@ -1357,11 +1357,7 @@ 	// Count the chunk being sent, even if it isn't.
 	c.chunksSent++
 	b := make([]byte, r.Length)
 	tp := &t.Pieces[r.Index]
-	tp.pendingWritesMutex.Lock()
-	for tp.pendingWrites != 0 {
-		tp.noPendingWrites.Wait()
-	}
-	tp.pendingWritesMutex.Unlock()
+	tp.waitNoPendingWrites()
 	p := t.Info.Piece(int(r.Index))
 	n, err := dataReadAt(t.data, b, p.Offset()+int64(r.Begin))
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/piece.go b/piece.go
index 518e76bbf486d4772e81a167303c2518cad450a1..1c86b7eae305899cc0056a4fdc5d02e6e1b20b02 100644
--- a/piece.go
+++ b/piece.go
@@ -92,3 +92,29 @@ 		css[i], css[j] = css[j], css[i]
 	}
 	return
 }
+
+func (p *piece) incrementPendingWrites() {
+	p.pendingWritesMutex.Lock()
+	p.pendingWrites++
+	p.pendingWritesMutex.Unlock()
+}
+
+func (p *piece) decrementPendingWrites() {
+	p.pendingWritesMutex.Lock()
+	if p.pendingWrites == 0 {
+		panic("assertion")
+	}
+	p.pendingWrites--
+	if p.pendingWrites == 0 {
+		p.noPendingWrites.Broadcast()
+	}
+	p.pendingWritesMutex.Unlock()
+}
+
+func (p *piece) waitNoPendingWrites() {
+	p.pendingWritesMutex.Lock()
+	for p.pendingWrites != 0 {
+		p.noPendingWrites.Wait()
+	}
+	p.pendingWritesMutex.Unlock()
+}
diff --git a/reader.go b/reader.go
index 3d04b35ca53512ade112a0cbe8e938467965c241..8c3fa56fafcee0593cffe0411d8d4bb2b0892608 100644
--- a/reader.go
+++ b/reader.go
@@ -118,11 +118,7 @@ 	po := pos % ip.Length()
 	if int64(len(b1)) > ip.Length()-po {
 		b1 = b1[:ip.Length()-po]
 	}
-	tp.pendingWritesMutex.Lock()
-	for tp.pendingWrites != 0 {
-		tp.noPendingWrites.Wait()
-	}
-	tp.pendingWritesMutex.Unlock()
+	tp.waitNoPendingWrites()
 	n, err = dataReadAt(r.t.torrent.data, b1, pos)
 	if n != 0 {
 		err = nil
diff --git a/torrent.go b/torrent.go
index 924561cd6d317b0d0eb9ec8cf1f3fb753fab86f7..38990144eef6b587a4200c37c5bd02385b9ceeac 100644
--- a/torrent.go
+++ b/torrent.go
@@ -645,11 +645,7 @@
 func (t *torrent) hashPiece(piece int) (ps pieceSum) {
 	hash := pieceHash.New()
 	p := &t.Pieces[piece]
-	p.pendingWritesMutex.Lock()
-	for p.pendingWrites != 0 {
-		p.noPendingWrites.Wait()
-	}
-	p.pendingWritesMutex.Unlock()
+	p.waitNoPendingWrites()
 	pl := t.Info.Piece(int(piece)).Length()
 	n, err := t.data.WriteSectionTo(hash, int64(piece)*t.Info.PieceLength, pl)
 	if err != nil {