diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 8cd370c..b29829c 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -106,6 +106,11 @@ function nextFlush (stream) {
         Atomics.store(stream[kImpl].state, READ_INDEX, 0)
         Atomics.store(stream[kImpl].state, WRITE_INDEX, 0)
 
+        if (stream[kImpl].buf.length === 0) {
+          nextFlush(stream)
+          return
+        }
+
         // Find a toWrite length that fits the buffer
         // it must exists as the buffer is at least 4 bytes length
         // and the max utf-8 length for a char is 4 bytes.
@@ -212,10 +217,9 @@ class ThreadStream extends EventEmitter {
       throw new Error('the worker is ending')
     }
 
-    if (this[kImpl].flushing && this[kImpl].buf.length + data.length >= MAX_STRING) {
+    if (this[kImpl].buf.length + data.length >= MAX_STRING) {
       try {
         writeSync(this)
-        this[kImpl].flushing = true
       } catch (err) {
         destroy(this, err)
         return false
@@ -257,22 +261,8 @@ class ThreadStream extends EventEmitter {
       throw new Error('the worker has exited')
     }
 
-    // TODO write all .buf
-    const writeIndex = Atomics.load(this[kImpl].state, WRITE_INDEX)
-    // process._rawDebug(`(flush) readIndex (${Atomics.load(this.state, READ_INDEX)}) writeIndex (${Atomics.load(this.state, WRITE_INDEX)})`)
-    wait(this[kImpl].state, READ_INDEX, writeIndex, Infinity, (err, res) => {
-      if (err) {
-        destroy(this, err)
-        process.nextTick(cb, err)
-        return
-      }
-      if (res === 'not-equal') {
-        // TODO handle deadlock
-        this.flush(cb)
-        return
-      }
-      process.nextTick(cb)
-    })
+    writeSync(this) // TODO (fix): Make this async somehow.
+    waitAsync(this, cb)
   }
 
   flushSync () {
@@ -281,7 +271,7 @@ class ThreadStream extends EventEmitter {
     }
 
     writeSync(this)
-    flushSync(this)
+    waitSync(this)
   }
 
   unref () {
@@ -416,13 +406,12 @@ function writeSync (stream) {
       process.nextTick(drain, stream)
     }
   }
-  stream[kImpl].flushing = false
 
   while (stream[kImpl].buf.length !== 0) {
     const writeIndex = Atomics.load(stream[kImpl].state, WRITE_INDEX)
     let leftover = stream[kImpl].data.length - writeIndex
     if (leftover === 0) {
-      flushSync(stream)
+      waitSync(stream)
       Atomics.store(stream[kImpl].state, READ_INDEX, 0)
       Atomics.store(stream[kImpl].state, WRITE_INDEX, 0)
       continue
@@ -439,7 +428,7 @@ function writeSync (stream) {
       write(stream, toWrite, cb)
     } else {
       // multi-byte utf-8
-      flushSync(stream)
+      waitSync(stream)
       Atomics.store(stream[kImpl].state, READ_INDEX, 0)
       Atomics.store(stream[kImpl].state, WRITE_INDEX, 0)
 
@@ -457,12 +446,8 @@ function writeSync (stream) {
   }
 }
 
-function flushSync (stream) {
-  if (stream[kImpl].flushing) {
-    throw new Error('unable to flush while flushing')
-  }
-
-  // process._rawDebug('flushSync started')
+function waitSync (stream) {
+  // process._rawDebug('waitSync started')
 
   const writeIndex = Atomics.load(stream[kImpl].state, WRITE_INDEX)
 
@@ -473,10 +458,10 @@ function flushSync (stream) {
     const readIndex = Atomics.load(stream[kImpl].state, READ_INDEX)
 
     if (readIndex === -2) {
-      throw new Error('_flushSync failed')
+      throw new Error('waitSync failed')
     }
 
-    // process._rawDebug(`(flushSync) readIndex (${readIndex}) writeIndex (${writeIndex})`)
+    // process._rawDebug(`(waitSync) readIndex (${readIndex}) writeIndex (${writeIndex})`)
     if (readIndex !== writeIndex) {
       // TODO stream timeouts for some reason.
       Atomics.wait(stream[kImpl].state, READ_INDEX, readIndex, 1000)
@@ -485,10 +470,28 @@ function flushSync (stream) {
     }
 
     if (++spins === 10) {
-      throw new Error('_flushSync took too long (10s)')
+      throw new Error('waitSync took too long (10s)')
     }
   }
-  // process._rawDebug('flushSync finished')
+  // process._rawDebug('waitSync finished')
+}
+
+function waitAsync (stream, cb) {
+  const writeIndex = Atomics.load(stream[kImpl].state, WRITE_INDEX)
+  // process._rawDebug(`(flush) readIndex (${Atomics.load(this.state, READ_INDEX)}) writeIndex (${Atomics.load(this.state, WRITE_INDEX)})`)
+  wait(stream[kImpl].state, READ_INDEX, writeIndex, Infinity, (err, res) => {
+    if (err) {
+      destroy(stream, err)
+      process.nextTick(cb, err)
+      return
+    }
+    if (res === 'not-equal') {
+      // TODO handle deadlock
+      waitAsync(stream, cb)
+      return
+    }
+    process.nextTick(cb)
+  })
 }
 
 module.exports = ThreadStream
diff --git a/test/string-limit-2.test.js b/test/string-limit-2.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc2e959
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/string-limit-2.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+'use strict'
+
+const t = require('tap')
+const { join } = require('path')
+const { file } = require('./helper')
+const { createReadStream } = require('fs')
+const ThreadStream = require('..')
+const buffer = require('buffer')
+
+const MAX_STRING = buffer.constants.MAX_STRING_LENGTH
+
+t.plan(1)
+
+const dest = file()
+const stream = new ThreadStream({
+  filename: join(__dirname, 'to-file.js'),
+  workerData: { dest },
+  sync: false
+})
+
+stream.on('close', async () => {
+  let buf
+  for await (const chunk of createReadStream(dest)) {
+    buf = chunk
+  }
+  t.equal('asd', buf.toString().slice(-3))
+})
+
+stream.write('a'.repeat(MAX_STRING - 2))
+stream.write('asd')
+stream.end()