diff --git a/mitogen/core.py b/mitogen/core.py
index 2b1771a5..2ac9bdbe 100644
--- a/mitogen/core.py
+++ b/mitogen/core.py
@@ -1945,17 +1945,14 @@ class Waker(BasicStream):
 
     def on_receive(self, broker):
         """
-        Drain the pipe and fire callbacks. Reading multiple bytes is safe since
-        new bytes corresponding to future .defer() calls are written only after
-        .defer() takes _lock: either a byte we read corresponds to something
-        already on the queue by the time we take _lock, or a byte remains
-        buffered, causing another wake up, because it was written after we
-        released _lock.
+        Drain the pipe and fire callbacks. Since :attr:`_deferred` is
+        synchronized, :meth:`defer` and :meth:`on_receive` can conspire to
+        ensure only one byte needs to be pending regardless of queue length.
         """
         _vv and IOLOG.debug('%r.on_receive()', self)
-        self.receive_side.read(128)
         self._lock.acquire()
         try:
+            self.receive_side.read(1)
             deferred = self._deferred
             self._deferred = []
         finally:
@@ -1969,6 +1966,18 @@ class Waker(BasicStream):
                               func, args, kwargs)
                 self._broker.shutdown()
 
+    def _wake(self):
+        """
+        Wake the multiplexer by writing a byte. If Broker is midway through
+        teardown, the FD may already be closed, so ignore EBADF.
+        """
+        try:
+            self.transmit_side.write(b(' '))
+        except OSError:
+            e = sys.exc_info()[1]
+            if e.args[0] != errno.EBADF:
+                raise
+
     def defer(self, func, *args, **kwargs):
         if threading.currentThread().ident == self.broker_ident:
             _vv and IOLOG.debug('%r.defer() [immediate]', self)
@@ -1977,20 +1986,12 @@ class Waker(BasicStream):
         _vv and IOLOG.debug('%r.defer() [fd=%r]', self, self.transmit_side.fd)
         self._lock.acquire()
         try:
+            if not self._deferred:
+                self._wake()
             self._deferred.append((func, args, kwargs))
         finally:
             self._lock.release()
 
-        # Wake the multiplexer by writing a byte. If the broker is in the midst
-        # of tearing itself down, the waker fd may already have been closed, so
-        # ignore EBADF here.
-        try:
-            self.transmit_side.write(b(' '))
-        except OSError:
-            e = sys.exc_info()[1]
-            if e.args[0] != errno.EBADF:
-                raise
-
 
 class IoLogger(BasicStream):
     """