diff --git a/src/inspector_agent.cc b/src/inspector_agent.cc
index 7dd83c7eafc87c..13305168f8f04f 100644
--- a/src/inspector_agent.cc
+++ b/src/inspector_agent.cc
@@ -265,12 +265,13 @@ class AgentImpl {
                      const String16& message);
   void SwapBehindLock(MessageQueue* vector1, MessageQueue* vector2);
   void PostIncomingMessage(const String16& message);
+  void WaitForFrontendMessage();
+  void NotifyMessageReceived();
   State ToState(State state);
 
   uv_sem_t start_sem_;
-  ConditionVariable pause_cond_;
-  Mutex pause_lock_;
-  Mutex queue_lock_;
+  ConditionVariable incoming_message_cond_;
+  Mutex state_lock_;
   uv_thread_t thread_;
   uv_loop_t child_loop_;
 
@@ -370,15 +371,11 @@ class V8NodeInspector : public v8_inspector::V8InspectorClient {
       return;
     terminated_ = false;
     running_nested_loop_ = true;
-    agent_->DispatchMessages();
-    do {
-      {
-        Mutex::ScopedLock scoped_lock(agent_->pause_lock_);
-        agent_->pause_cond_.Wait(scoped_lock);
-      }
+    while (!terminated_) {
+      agent_->WaitForFrontendMessage();
       while (v8::platform::PumpMessageLoop(platform_, env_->isolate()))
         {}
-    } while (!terminated_);
+    }
     terminated_ = false;
     running_nested_loop_ = false;
   }
@@ -661,7 +658,6 @@ bool AgentImpl::OnInspectorHandshakeIO(InspectorSocket* socket,
 void AgentImpl::OnRemoteDataIO(InspectorSocket* socket,
                                ssize_t read,
                                const uv_buf_t* buf) {
-  Mutex::ScopedLock scoped_lock(pause_lock_);
   if (read > 0) {
     String16 str = String16::fromUTF8(buf->base, read);
     // TODO(pfeldman): Instead of blocking execution while debugger
@@ -686,7 +682,6 @@ void AgentImpl::OnRemoteDataIO(InspectorSocket* socket,
   if (buf) {
     delete[] buf->base;
   }
-  pause_cond_.Broadcast(scoped_lock);
 }
 
 // static
@@ -752,14 +747,14 @@ void AgentImpl::WorkerRunIO() {
 
 bool AgentImpl::AppendMessage(MessageQueue* queue, int session_id,
                               const String16& message) {
-  Mutex::ScopedLock scoped_lock(queue_lock_);
+  Mutex::ScopedLock scoped_lock(state_lock_);
   bool trigger_pumping = queue->empty();
   queue->push_back(std::make_pair(session_id, message));
   return trigger_pumping;
 }
 
 void AgentImpl::SwapBehindLock(MessageQueue* vector1, MessageQueue* vector2) {
-  Mutex::ScopedLock scoped_lock(queue_lock_);
+  Mutex::ScopedLock scoped_lock(state_lock_);
   vector1->swap(*vector2);
 }
 
@@ -771,6 +766,18 @@ void AgentImpl::PostIncomingMessage(const String16& message) {
     isolate->RequestInterrupt(InterruptCallback, this);
     uv_async_send(data_written_);
   }
+  NotifyMessageReceived();
+}
+
+void AgentImpl::WaitForFrontendMessage() {
+  Mutex::ScopedLock scoped_lock(state_lock_);
+  if (incoming_message_queue_.empty())
+    incoming_message_cond_.Wait(scoped_lock);
+}
+
+void AgentImpl::NotifyMessageReceived() {
+  Mutex::ScopedLock scoped_lock(state_lock_);
+  incoming_message_cond_.Broadcast(scoped_lock);
 }
 
 void AgentImpl::OnInspectorConnectionIO(InspectorSocket* socket) {
diff --git a/test/inspector/inspector-helper.js b/test/inspector/inspector-helper.js
index 865ddeb3b5fefa..3bbe442f22e293 100644
--- a/test/inspector/inspector-helper.js
+++ b/test/inspector/inspector-helper.js
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ const http = require('http');
 const path = require('path');
 const spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
 
+const DEBUG = false;
+
 const TIMEOUT = 15 * 1000;
 
 const mainScript = path.join(common.fixturesDir, 'loop.js');
@@ -13,6 +15,8 @@ const mainScript = path.join(common.fixturesDir, 'loop.js');
 function send(socket, message, id, callback) {
   const msg = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(message)); // Clone!
   msg['id'] = id;
+  if (DEBUG)
+    console.log('[sent]', JSON.stringify(msg));
   const messageBuf = Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(msg));
 
   const wsHeaderBuf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(16);
@@ -61,6 +65,8 @@ function parseWSFrame(buffer, handler) {
     return 0;
   const message = JSON.parse(
       buffer.slice(bodyOffset, bodyOffset + dataLen).toString('utf8'));
+  if (DEBUG)
+    console.log('[received]', JSON.stringify(message));
   handler(message);
   return bodyOffset + dataLen;
 }
@@ -117,7 +123,7 @@ const TestSession = function(socket, harness) {
   this.expectedId_ = 1;
   this.lastMessageResponseCallback_ = null;
 
-  let buffer = Buffer.from('');
+  let buffer = new Buffer(0);
   socket.on('data', (data) => {
     buffer = Buffer.concat([buffer, data]);
     let consumed;
@@ -195,9 +201,10 @@ TestSession.prototype.sendInspectorCommands = function(commands) {
       timeoutId = setTimeout(() => {
         let s = '';
         for (const id in this.messages_) {
-          s += this.messages_[id] + '\n';
+          s += id + ', ';
         }
-        common.fail(s.substring(0, s.length - 1));
+        common.fail('Messages without response: ' +
+                    s.substring(0, s.length - 2));
       }, TIMEOUT);
     });
   });
@@ -269,6 +276,7 @@ TestSession.prototype.disconnect = function(childDone) {
     this.harness_.childInstanceDone =
         this.harness_.childInstanceDone || childDone;
     this.socket_.end();
+    console.log('[test]', 'Connection terminated');
     callback();
   });
 };
@@ -293,7 +301,7 @@ const Harness = function(port, childProcess) {
       if (!filter(message)) pending.push(filter);
     this.stderrFilters_ = pending;
   }));
-  childProcess.on('close', (code, signal) => {
+  childProcess.on('exit', (code, signal) => {
     assert(this.childInstanceDone, 'Child instance died prematurely');
     this.returnCode_ = code;
     this.running_ = false;