diff --git a/crates/amalthea/src/kernel.rs b/crates/amalthea/src/kernel.rs
index c1bb89d9f..8e9e06e28 100644
--- a/crates/amalthea/src/kernel.rs
+++ b/crates/amalthea/src/kernel.rs
@@ -366,34 +366,70 @@ impl Kernel {
         stdin_inbound_tx: Sender<Message>,
         stdin_outbound_rx: Receiver<Message>,
     ) {
-        let outbound_notif_poll_item = outbound_notif_socket.socket.as_poll_item(zmq::POLLIN);
-        let stdin_poll_item = stdin_socket.socket.as_poll_item(zmq::POLLIN);
-
-        let mut poll_items = vec![
-            outbound_notif_socket.socket.as_poll_item(zmq::POLLIN),
-            stdin_socket.socket.as_poll_item(zmq::POLLIN),
-        ];
+        // Create poll items necessary to call `zmq_poll()`
+        let mut poll_items = {
+            let outbound_notif_poll_item = outbound_notif_socket.socket.as_poll_item(zmq::POLLIN);
+            let stdin_poll_item = stdin_socket.socket.as_poll_item(zmq::POLLIN);
+            vec![outbound_notif_poll_item, stdin_poll_item]
+        };
 
-        let has_outbound = || -> bool {
-            if outbound_notif_poll_item.is_readable() {
+        // This function checks that an outgoing message is ready to be
+        // read on an Amalthea channel. Returns the index of the hot
+        // channel (currently unused as we only have one channel at the
+        // moment).
+        let has_outbound = || -> Option<usize> {
+            if let Ok(n) = outbound_notif_socket.socket.poll(zmq::POLLIN, 0) {
+                if n == 0 {
+                    return None;
+                }
                 // Consume notification
-                let mut msg = zmq::Message::new();
-                unwrap!(outbound_notif_socket.recv(&mut msg), Err(err) => {
-                    log::warn!("Could not consume outbound notification socket: {}", err)
+                let bytes = unwrap!(outbound_notif_socket.socket.recv_bytes(0), Err(err) => {
+                    log::warn!("Could not consume outbound notification socket: {}", err);
+                    return None;
+                });
+
+                // Get index of hot channel
+                let index = unwrap!(bytes.try_into(), Err(_) => {
+                    log::error!("Could not extract index from outbound notification");
+                    return None;
                 });
 
-                true
+                Some(usize::from_be_bytes(index))
             } else {
-                false
+                None
             }
         };
 
-        let forward_outbound = || -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+        // This function checks that a 0MQ message from the frontend is ready
+        let has_inbound = || -> bool {
+            match stdin_socket.socket.poll(zmq::POLLIN, 0) {
+                Ok(n) if n > 0 => true,
+                _ => false,
+            }
+        };
+
+        // Forward channel message from Amalthea to the frontend via the
+        // corresponding 0MQ socket. Should consume exactly 1 channel. The
+        // `_i` argument indicates which channel to consume. It's currently
+        // unused as we only manage one channel at the moment but that
+        // could change.
+        let forward_outbound = |_i: usize| -> anyhow::Result<()> {
             let msg = stdin_outbound_rx.recv()?;
             msg.send(&stdin_socket)?;
+
+            // Send back a notification once the channel message is
+            // consumed. This way we keep the forwarding and notifier
+            // threads synchronised.
+            unwrap!(
+                outbound_notif_socket.send(zmq::Message::new()),
+                Err(err) => error!("While notifying back notifier thread: {}", err)
+            );
+
             Ok(())
         };
 
+        // Forward 0MQ message from the frontend to the corresponding
+        // Amalthea channel.
         let forward_inbound = || -> anyhow::Result<()> {
             let msg = Message::read_from_socket(&stdin_socket)?;
             stdin_inbound_tx.send(msg)?;
@@ -410,9 +446,9 @@ impl Kernel {
             );
 
             while n > 0 {
-                if has_outbound() {
+                if let Some(index) = has_outbound() {
                     unwrap!(
-                        forward_outbound(),
+                        forward_outbound(index),
                         Err(err) => error!("While forwarding outbound message: {}", err)
                     );
 
@@ -420,7 +456,7 @@ impl Kernel {
                     continue;
                 }
 
-                if stdin_poll_item.is_readable() {
+                if has_inbound() {
                     unwrap!(
                         forward_inbound(),
                         Err(err) => error!("While forwarding inbound message: {}", err)
@@ -442,9 +478,21 @@ impl Kernel {
         }
 
         loop {
-            sel.ready();
+            let i: usize = sel.ready();
+            let i_bytes = i.to_be_bytes();
+
+            unwrap!(
+                notif_socket.send(zmq::Message::from(&i_bytes[..])),
+                Err(err) => error!("Couldn't notify 0MQ thread: {}", err)
+            );
+
+            // To keep things synchronised, wait to be notified that the
+            // channel message has been consumed before continuing the loop.
             unwrap!(
-                notif_socket.send(zmq::Message::new()),
+                {
+                    let mut msg = zmq::Message::new();
+                    notif_socket.recv(&mut msg)
+                },
                 Err(err) => error!("Couldn't notify 0MQ thread: {}", err)
             );
         }