diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/org/phoenixframework/PhxPush.kt b/src/main/kotlin/org/phoenixframework/PhxPush.kt
index 5666119..7f23bab 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/org/phoenixframework/PhxPush.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/org/phoenixframework/PhxPush.kt
@@ -184,8 +184,8 @@ class PhxPush(
         val mutPayload = payload.toMutableMap()
         mutPayload["status"] = status
 
-        refEvent?.let {
-            val message = PhxMessage(it, "", "", mutPayload)
+        refEvent?.let { safeRefEvent ->
+            val message = PhxMessage(event = safeRefEvent, payload = mutPayload)
             this.channel.trigger(message)
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/org/phoenixframework/PhxChannelTest.kt b/src/test/kotlin/org/phoenixframework/PhxChannelTest.kt
index 879fe68..a32d76d 100644
--- a/src/test/kotlin/org/phoenixframework/PhxChannelTest.kt
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/org/phoenixframework/PhxChannelTest.kt
@@ -1,17 +1,25 @@
 package org.phoenixframework
 
 import com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat
+import okhttp3.OkHttpClient
+import okhttp3.Request
+import okhttp3.WebSocket
+import okhttp3.WebSocketListener
 import org.junit.Before
 import org.junit.Test
+import org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers
 import org.mockito.Mockito
+import org.mockito.Mockito.`when`
 import org.mockito.MockitoAnnotations
 import org.mockito.Spy
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger
 
 class PhxChannelTest {
 
     private val defaultRef = "1"
+    private val topic = "topic"
 
     @Spy
     var socket: PhxSocket = PhxSocket("http://localhost:4000/socket/websocket")
@@ -23,7 +31,7 @@ class PhxChannelTest {
         Mockito.doReturn(defaultRef).`when`(socket).makeRef()
 
         socket.timeout = 1234
-        channel = PhxChannel("topic", hashMapOf("one" to "two"), socket)
+        channel = PhxChannel(topic, hashMapOf("one" to "two"), socket)
     }
 
 
@@ -149,4 +157,46 @@ class PhxChannelTest {
 
         CompletableFuture.allOf(f1, f3).get(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
     }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `issue 36 - verify timeouts remove bindings`() {
+        // mock okhttp to get isConnected to return true for the socket
+        val mockOkHttp = Mockito.mock(OkHttpClient::class.java)
+        val mockSocket = Mockito.mock(WebSocket::class.java)
+        `when`(mockOkHttp.newWebSocket(ArgumentMatchers.any(Request::class.java), ArgumentMatchers.any(WebSocketListener::class.java))).thenReturn(mockSocket)
+
+        // local mocks for this test
+        val localSocket = Mockito.spy(PhxSocket(url = "http://localhost:4000/socket/websocket", client = mockOkHttp))
+        val localChannel = PhxChannel(topic, hashMapOf("one" to "two"), localSocket)
+
+        // setup makeRef so it increments
+        val refCounter = AtomicInteger(1)
+        Mockito.doAnswer {
+            refCounter.getAndIncrement().toString()
+        }.`when`(localSocket).makeRef()
+
+        //connect the socket
+        localSocket.connect()
+
+        //join the channel
+        val joinPush = localChannel.join()
+        localChannel.trigger(PhxMessage(
+                ref = joinPush.ref!!,
+                joinRef = joinPush.ref!!,
+                event = PhxChannel.PhxEvent.REPLY.value,
+                topic = topic,
+                payload = mutableMapOf("status" to "ok")))
+
+        //get bindings
+        val originalBindingsSize = localChannel.bindings.size
+        val pushCount = 100
+        repeat(pushCount) {
+            localChannel.push("some-event", mutableMapOf(), timeout = 500)
+        }
+        //verify binding count before timeouts
+        assertThat(localChannel.bindings.size).isEqualTo(originalBindingsSize + pushCount)
+        Thread.sleep(1000)
+        //verify binding count after timeouts
+        assertThat(localChannel.bindings.size).isEqualTo(originalBindingsSize)
+    }
 }