diff --git a/src/vnsw/agent/cmn/agent.cc b/src/vnsw/agent/cmn/agent.cc
index 599b7fc026d..42f04904139 100644
--- a/src/vnsw/agent/cmn/agent.cc
+++ b/src/vnsw/agent/cmn/agent.cc
@@ -255,6 +255,12 @@ void Agent::SetAgentTaskPolicy() {
     SetTaskPolicyOne("http client", metadata_exclude_list,
                      sizeof(metadata_exclude_list) / sizeof(char *));
 
+    const char *xmpp_state_machine_exclude_list[] = {
+        "io::ReaderTask"
+    };
+    SetTaskPolicyOne("xmpp::StateMachine", xmpp_state_machine_exclude_list,
+                     sizeof(xmpp_state_machine_exclude_list) / sizeof(char *));
+
     const char *agent_init_exclude_list[] = {
         "xmpp::StateMachine",
         "http client",
diff --git a/src/xmpp/xmpp_session.cc b/src/xmpp/xmpp_session.cc
index eaa00b3cd2e..d786a3ddbcd 100644
--- a/src/xmpp/xmpp_session.cc
+++ b/src/xmpp/xmpp_session.cc
@@ -293,10 +293,6 @@ void XmppSession::OnRead(Buffer buffer) {
                 break;
             }
 
-            //
-            // XXX Connection gone ?
-            //
-            if (!connection_) break;
             connection_->ReceiveMsg(this, xml);
 
         } else {