diff --git a/tools/load_tester.cpp b/tools/load_tester.cpp
index 87d50fd..19747be 100644
--- a/tools/load_tester.cpp
+++ b/tools/load_tester.cpp
@@ -130,7 +130,6 @@ constexpr int kNetworkThreads = std::min(8, kConcurrency);
 
 constexpr int kEventBatchSize = 32;
 constexpr int kConnectionBufSize = 1024;
-constexpr uint32_t kMandatoryEpollFlags = EPOLLONESHOT;
 
 sem_t connectionLimit;
 
@@ -232,20 +231,14 @@ struct Connection {
       assert(w != 0);
       request = request.substr(w, request.size() - w);
       if (request.empty()) {
-        if (requestsSent == 0) {
-          sentFirstRequest = now();
-        }
         ++requestsSent;
         if (requestsSent == kRequestsPerConnection) {
           return true;
         }
-        initRequest();
       }
     }
   }
 
-  double sentFirstRequest;
-
   const int fd;
   const int64_t id;
 
@@ -282,6 +275,7 @@ private:
   int on_message_complete() {
     responseId = 0;
     ++responsesReceived;
+    initRequest();
     return 0;
   }
 
@@ -373,9 +367,10 @@ int main() {
 
           // Transfer back to epoll instance. This thread or another thread
           // will wake when fd is ready
-          events[i].events = EPOLLIN | kMandatoryEpollFlags;
           if (!conn->request.empty() && !conn->error) {
-            events[i].events |= EPOLLOUT;
+            events[i].events = EPOLLOUT | EPOLLONESHOT;
+          } else {
+            events[i].events = EPOLLIN | EPOLLONESHOT;
           }
           conn->tsan_release();
           events[i].data.ptr = conn.release();
@@ -408,7 +403,7 @@ int main() {
             fd, connectionId.fetch_add(1, std::memory_order_relaxed));
         // Post to epoll instance
         struct epoll_event event{};
-        event.events = EPOLLOUT | kMandatoryEpollFlags;
+        event.events = EPOLLOUT | EPOLLONESHOT;
         conn->tsan_release();
         event.data.ptr = conn.release();
         e = epoll_ctl(epollfd, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, fd, &event);
@@ -420,16 +415,6 @@ int main() {
     });
   }
 
-  auto now = []() {
-    struct timespec t;
-    int e = clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW, &t);
-    if (e == -1) {
-      perror("clock_gettime");
-      abort();
-    }
-    return double(t.tv_nsec) * 1e-9 + double(t.tv_sec);
-  };
-
   for (double prevTime = now(),
               prevConnections = connectionId.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
        ;) {