diff --git a/src/bin_signer/socket_daemon.ml b/src/bin_signer/socket_daemon.ml
index f5d77e632..ba61a80b0 100644
--- a/src/bin_signer/socket_daemon.ml
+++ b/src/bin_signer/socket_daemon.ml
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ let run (cctxt : #Client_context.wallet) path ?magic_bytes ~require_auth =
     end ;
     loop ()
   in
-  Lwt_unix.listen fd 10 ;
   begin
     match path with
     | Tcp (host, port) ->
diff --git a/src/lib_signer_backends/http_gen.ml b/src/lib_signer_backends/http_gen.ml
index bdddb69c6..23d6e9a6e 100644
--- a/src/lib_signer_backends/http_gen.ml
+++ b/src/lib_signer_backends/http_gen.ml
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ module Make(N : sig val scheme : string end) = struct
         | None ->
             failwith "Invalid locator %a" Uri.pp_hum uri
         | Some i ->
-            let pkh = String.sub path (i + 1) (String.length path - i - 1) in
+            let pkh =
+              try String.sub path (i + 1) (String.length path - i - 1)
+              with _ -> "" in
             let path = String.sub path 0 i in
             return (Uri.with_path uri path, pkh)
       end >>=? fun (base, pkh) ->
diff --git a/src/lib_signer_backends/socket.ml b/src/lib_signer_backends/socket.ml
index 8376e67d9..452f9cdd1 100644
--- a/src/lib_signer_backends/socket.ml
+++ b/src/lib_signer_backends/socket.ml
@@ -23,19 +23,24 @@ module Make(P : sig
       | None -> msg
       | Some watermark ->
           MBytes.concat "" [ Signature.bytes_of_watermark watermark ; msg ] in
-    Lwt_utils_unix.Socket.connect path >>=? fun conn ->
-    Lwt_utils_unix.Socket.send
-      conn Request.encoding Request.Authorized_keys >>=? fun () ->
-    Lwt_utils_unix.Socket.recv conn
-      Authorized_keys.Response.encoding >>=? fun authorized_keys ->
-    begin match authorized_keys with
-      | No_authentication -> return None
-      | Authorized_keys authorized_keys ->
-          P.authenticate authorized_keys
-            (Sign.Request.to_sign ~pkh ~data:msg) >>=? fun signature ->
-          return (Some signature)
+    begin
+      Lwt_utils_unix.Socket.connect path >>=? fun conn ->
+      Lwt_utils_unix.Socket.send
+        conn Request.encoding Request.Authorized_keys >>=? fun () ->
+      Lwt_utils_unix.Socket.recv conn
+        (result_encoding Authorized_keys.Response.encoding) >>=? fun authorized_keys ->
+      Lwt.return authorized_keys >>=? fun authorized_keys ->
+      Lwt_unix.close conn >>= fun () ->
+      begin match authorized_keys with
+        | No_authentication -> return None
+        | Authorized_keys authorized_keys ->
+            P.authenticate authorized_keys
+              (Sign.Request.to_sign ~pkh ~data:msg) >>=? fun signature ->
+            return (Some signature)
+      end
     end >>=? fun signature ->
     let req = { Sign.Request.pkh ; data = msg ; signature } in
+    Lwt_utils_unix.Socket.connect path >>=? fun conn ->
     Lwt_utils_unix.Socket.send
       conn Request.encoding (Request.Sign req) >>=? fun () ->
     Lwt_utils_unix.Socket.recv conn
@@ -61,7 +66,7 @@ module Make(P : sig
 
     let description =
       "Valid locators are of the form\n\
-      \ - unix:///path/to/socket?pkh=tz1..."
+      \ - unix:/path/to/socket?pkh=tz1..."
 
     let parse uri =
       assert (Uri.scheme uri = Some scheme) ;
@@ -109,8 +114,12 @@ module Make(P : sig
       | _, None ->
           failwith "Missing host port"
       | Some path, Some port ->
+          let pkh = Uri.path uri in
+          let pkh =
+            try String.(sub pkh 1 (length pkh - 1))
+            with _ -> "" in
           Lwt.return
-            (Signature.Public_key_hash.of_b58check (Uri.path uri)) >>=? fun pkh ->
+            (Signature.Public_key_hash.of_b58check pkh) >>=? fun pkh ->
           return (Lwt_utils_unix.Socket.Tcp (path, port), pkh)
 
     let public_key uri =
diff --git a/src/lib_signer_services/signer_messages.ml b/src/lib_signer_services/signer_messages.ml
index 0c1064f6d..cf1a2be29 100644
--- a/src/lib_signer_services/signer_messages.ml
+++ b/src/lib_signer_services/signer_messages.ml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ module Sign = struct
 
     let to_sign ~pkh ~data =
       MBytes.concat ""
-        [ MBytes.of_hex (`Hex "04") ;
+        [ MBytes.of_string "\x04" ;
           Signature.Public_key_hash.to_bytes pkh ;
           data ]
 
diff --git a/src/lib_stdlib_unix/lwt_utils_unix.ml b/src/lib_stdlib_unix/lwt_utils_unix.ml
index 85835240d..b01056e05 100644
--- a/src/lib_stdlib_unix/lwt_utils_unix.ml
+++ b/src/lib_stdlib_unix/lwt_utils_unix.ml
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ module Socket = struct
     | Tcp (host, port) ->
         get_addrs host >>=? fun addrs ->
         let rec try_connect = function
-          | [] -> failwith "..."
+          | [] -> failwith "could not resolve host '%s'" host
           | addr :: addrs ->
               Lwt.catch
                 (fun () ->
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ module Socket = struct
     | Tcp (host, port) ->
         get_addrs host >>=? fun addrs ->
         let rec try_bind = function
-          | [] -> failwith "..."
+          | [] -> failwith "could not resolve host '%s'" host
           | addr :: addrs ->
               Lwt.catch
                 (fun () ->
@@ -328,18 +328,18 @@ module Socket = struct
     register_error_kind `Permanent
       ~id: "signer.encoding_error"
       ~title: "Encoding_error"
-      ~description: "Error while encoding a request to the remote signer"
+      ~description: "Error while encoding a remote signer message"
       ~pp: (fun ppf () ->
-          Format.fprintf ppf "Could not encode a request to the remote signer")
+          Format.fprintf ppf "Could not encode a remote signer message")
       Data_encoding.empty
       (function Encoding_error -> Some () | _ -> None)
       (fun () -> Encoding_error) ;
     register_error_kind `Permanent
       ~id: "signer.decoding_error"
       ~title: "Decoding_error"
-      ~description: "Error while decoding a request to the remote signer"
+      ~description: "Error while decoding a remote signer message"
       ~pp: (fun ppf () ->
-          Format.fprintf ppf "Could not decode a request to the remote signer")
+          Format.fprintf ppf "Could not decode a remote signer message")
       Data_encoding.empty
       (function Decoding_error -> Some () | _ -> None)
       (fun () -> Decoding_error)