diff --git a/src/decentralizepy/communication/TCPRandomWalk.py b/src/decentralizepy/communication/TCPRandomWalk.py
index 98fd8e3327db92bf7383f93bcff0aa9bfdcf7e6a..b66b64549e00856486455ec1a403f0c8dcd35537 100644
--- a/src/decentralizepy/communication/TCPRandomWalk.py
+++ b/src/decentralizepy/communication/TCPRandomWalk.py
@@ -305,9 +305,11 @@ class TCPRandomWalk(TCPRandomWalkBase):
 
         """
         print("disconnect_neighbors")
+        self.flag_running.value = 0
+        time.sleep(4)
         self.send_queue.close()  # this crashes
         self.recv_queue.close()
-        self.flag_running.value = 0
+
         #del self.lock
         self.send_queue.join_thread()
         self.recv_queue.join_thread()