diff --git a/lib/alias.js b/lib/alias.js
index e7a3f3a..5f29265 100644
--- a/lib/alias.js
+++ b/lib/alias.js
@@ -167,6 +167,13 @@ export default class Alias extends Now {
       console.log(`> Verification ${chalk.bold('OK')}!`);
     }
 
+    // unfortunately there's a situation where the verification
+    // ownership code path in the `catch` above makes the
+    // agent unexpectedly close. this is a workaround until
+    // we figure out what's going on with `node-spdy`
+    this._agent.close();
+    this._agent._initAgent();
+
     const { created, uid } = await this.createAlias(depl, alias);
     if (created) {
       console.log(`${chalk.cyan('> Success!')} Alias created ${chalk.dim(`(${uid})`)}: ${chalk.bold(chalk.underline(`https://${alias}`))} now points to ${chalk.bold(`https://${depl.url}`)} ${chalk.dim(`(${depl.uid})`)}`);