diff --git a/gossipd/gossip.c b/gossipd/gossip.c
index ee2f8f525..0e71f1714 100644
--- a/gossipd/gossip.c
+++ b/gossipd/gossip.c
@@ -1522,24 +1522,6 @@ static void setup_listeners(struct daemon *daemon, u16 portnum)
 			      portnum);
 }
 
-/**
- * Callback function to be called whenever the master connection is idle
- */
-static bool master_conn_idle(struct io_conn *conn UNUSED,
-			     struct daemon_conn *dc)
-{
-	const u8 *msg;
-	struct daemon *daemon = container_of(dc, struct daemon, master);
-	msg = gossip_store_read_next(tmpctx, daemon->rstate, daemon->rstate->store);
-
-	if (msg) {
-		handle_gossip_msg(daemon, msg, false);
-		return true;
-	} else {
-		return false;
-	}
-}
-
 /* Parse an incoming gossip init message and assign config variables
  * to the daemon.
  */
@@ -1562,14 +1544,16 @@ static struct io_plan *gossip_init(struct daemon_conn *master,
 	daemon->rstate = new_routing_state(daemon, &chain_hash, &daemon->id,
 					   update_channel_interval * 2);
 
-	master->msg_queue_cleared_cb = master_conn_idle;
-
 	setup_listeners(daemon, port);
 
 	new_reltimer(&daemon->timers, daemon,
 		     time_from_sec(daemon->rstate->prune_timeout/4),
 		     gossip_refresh_network, daemon);
 
+	/* Load stored gossip messages */
+	while (gossip_store_read_next(daemon->rstate, daemon->rstate->store)) {
+	}
+
 	return daemon_conn_read_next(master->conn, master);
 }
 
diff --git a/gossipd/gossip_store.c b/gossipd/gossip_store.c
index a57cd9be6..928437cd3 100644
--- a/gossipd/gossip_store.c
+++ b/gossipd/gossip_store.c
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ void gossip_store_add_node_announcement(struct gossip_store *gs,
 	tal_free(msg);
 }
 
-const u8 *gossip_store_read_next(const tal_t *ctx, struct routing_state *rstate,
-				 struct gossip_store *gs)
+bool gossip_store_read_next(struct routing_state *rstate,
+			    struct gossip_store *gs)
 {
 	beint32_t belen;
 	u32 msglen;
@@ -98,11 +98,11 @@ const u8 *gossip_store_read_next(const tal_t *ctx, struct routing_state *rstate,
 	/* Can we read one message? */
 	if (pread(gs->fd, &belen, sizeof(belen), gs->read_pos) != sizeof(belen)) {
 		gs->read_pos = -1;
-		return NULL;
+		return false;
 	}
 
 	msglen = be32_to_cpu(belen);
-	msg = tal_arr(ctx, u8, msglen);
+	msg = tal_arr(gs, u8, msglen);
 
 	if (!pread(gs->fd, msg, msglen, gs->read_pos + sizeof(belen))) {
 		status_trace("Short read from gossip-store, expected lenght %d",
@@ -113,7 +113,8 @@ const u8 *gossip_store_read_next(const tal_t *ctx, struct routing_state *rstate,
 		gs->write_pos = gs->read_pos;
 		gs->read_pos = -1;
 		ftruncate(gs->fd, gs->write_pos);
-		return NULL;
+		tal_free(msg);
+		return false;
 	}
 
 	gs->read_pos += sizeof(belen) + msglen;
@@ -122,17 +123,13 @@ const u8 *gossip_store_read_next(const tal_t *ctx, struct routing_state *rstate,
 	if (type == WIRE_GOSSIP_STORE_CHANNEL_ANNOUNCEMENT) {
 		fromwire_gossip_store_channel_announcement(msg, msg, &gossip_msg, &satoshis);
 		routing_add_channel_announcement(rstate, gossip_msg, satoshis);
-
-		/* No harm in returning it, it'll get discarded as a duplicate */
-		return gossip_msg;
 	} else if(type == WIRE_GOSSIP_STORE_CHANNEL_UPDATE) {
 		fromwire_gossip_store_channel_update(msg, msg, &gossip_msg);
 		routing_add_channel_update(rstate, gossip_msg);
-		return gossip_msg;
 	} else if(type == WIRE_GOSSIP_STORE_NODE_ANNOUNCEMENT) {
 		fromwire_gossip_store_node_announcement(msg, msg, &gossip_msg);
 		routing_add_node_announcement(rstate, gossip_msg);
-		return gossip_msg;
 	}
-	return msg;
+	tal_free(msg);
+	return true;
 }
diff --git a/gossipd/gossip_store.h b/gossipd/gossip_store.h
index 40a785c3f..7191e3e2c 100644
--- a/gossipd/gossip_store.h
+++ b/gossipd/gossip_store.h
@@ -29,11 +29,11 @@ void gossip_store_append(struct gossip_store *gs, const u8 *msg);
  *
  * @param ctx The context to allocate the message from
  * @param gs  The `gossip_store` to read from
- * @return The gossip message allocated from `ctx`, `NULL` if no more messages are
- *         available.
+ * @return whether a message was read from the store. False means that all
+ * messages have been processed.
  */
-const u8 *gossip_store_read_next(const tal_t *ctx, struct routing_state *rstate,
-				 struct gossip_store *gs);
+bool gossip_store_read_next(struct routing_state *rstate,
+			    struct gossip_store *gs);
 
 /**
  * Store a channel_announcement with all its extra data