diff --git a/tractor/_ipc.py b/tractor/_ipc.py
index c516189..6296d94 100644
--- a/tractor/_ipc.py
+++ b/tractor/_ipc.py
@@ -141,8 +141,11 @@ class MsgspecTCPStream(MsgpackTCPStream):
         self.decode = msgspec.Decoder().decode  # dict[str, Any])
 
     async def _iter_packets(self) -> typing.AsyncGenerator[dict, None]:
-        """Yield packets from the underlying stream.
-        """
+        '''Yield packets from the underlying stream.
+
+        '''
+        import msgspec  # noqa
+        last_decode_failed: bool = False
 
         while True:
             try:
@@ -172,7 +175,18 @@ class MsgspecTCPStream(MsgpackTCPStream):
             msg_bytes = await self.recv_stream.receive_exactly(size)
 
             log.transport(f"received {msg_bytes}")  # type: ignore
-            yield self.decode(msg_bytes)
+            try:
+                assert not last_decode_failed
+                yield self.decode(msg_bytes)
+            except (
+                msgspec.DecodingError,
+                UnicodeDecodeError,
+            ):
+                # ignore decoding errors for now and assume they have to
+                # do with a channel drop - hope that receiving from the
+                # channel will raise an expected error and bubble up.
+                log.error(f'`msgspec` failed to decode!?\n{msg_bytes}')
+                last_decode_failed = True
 
     async def send(self, data: Any) -> None:
         async with self._send_lock: