diff --git a/Gopkg.lock b/Gopkg.lock
index d786251a3..2cfe13d56 100644
--- a/Gopkg.lock
+++ b/Gopkg.lock
@@ -65,11 +65,11 @@
   revision = "0c63f026bcd6"
 
 [[projects]]
-  digest = "1:22ffd73c4580854d935821a0fa95ff7324df836efa86d256adeb392450cbde87"
+  digest = "1:f4f17bf49baf6cf0c3ba00ee2893a4c673b81fd227524956bc7c9fd64f58b133"
   name = "github.com/nsqio/go-diskqueue"
   packages = ["."]
   pruneopts = ""
-  revision = "74cfbc9de839"
+  revision = "8c228d7a2450265de03e1d42e21f59e23d6339c6"
 
 [[projects]]
   digest = "1:7a69f6a3a33929f8b66aa39c93868ad1698f06417fe627ae067559beb94504bd"
diff --git a/Gopkg.toml b/Gopkg.toml
index bb0bf6390..fa7048d72 100644
--- a/Gopkg.toml
+++ b/Gopkg.toml
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
 
 [[constraint]]
   name = "github.com/nsqio/go-diskqueue"
-  revision = "74cfbc9de839"
+  revision = "8c228d7a2450265de03e1d42e21f59e23d6339c6"
 
 [[constraint]]
   name = "github.com/nsqio/go-nsq"
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index f4b7c15c5..618f0235e 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/judwhite/go-svc v1.0.0
 	github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter v1.2.0
 	github.com/mreiferson/go-options v0.0.0-20190302015348-0c63f026bcd6
-	github.com/nsqio/go-diskqueue v0.0.0-20180306152900-74cfbc9de839
+	github.com/nsqio/go-diskqueue v0.0.0-20191213054144-8c228d7a2450
 	github.com/nsqio/go-nsq v1.0.7
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.2.2 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 63c62ab65..181b02b0d 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter v1.2.0 h1:TDTW5Yz1mjftljbcKqRcrYhd4XeOoI98t+
 github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter v1.2.0/go.mod h1:SYymIcj16QtmaHHD7aYtjjsJG7VTCxuUUipMqKk8s4w=
 github.com/mreiferson/go-options v0.0.0-20190302015348-0c63f026bcd6 h1:frRvTmIp7QT1RPaphBvr6zvEHfvdOX7jMO7rvicCH9Q=
 github.com/mreiferson/go-options v0.0.0-20190302015348-0c63f026bcd6/go.mod h1:zHtCks/HQvOt8ATyfwVe3JJq2PPuImzXINPRTC03+9w=
-github.com/nsqio/go-diskqueue v0.0.0-20180306152900-74cfbc9de839 h1:nZ0z0haJRzCXAWH9Jl+BUnfD2n2MCSbGRSl8VBX+zR0=
-github.com/nsqio/go-diskqueue v0.0.0-20180306152900-74cfbc9de839/go.mod h1:AYinRDfdKMmVKTPI8wOcLgjcw2pTS3jo8fib1VxOzsE=
+github.com/nsqio/go-diskqueue v0.0.0-20191213054144-8c228d7a2450 h1:5kOO/fS7AISHyIRPXdCbEefNxpc4bvYzRv6xmqPT4eQ=
+github.com/nsqio/go-diskqueue v0.0.0-20191213054144-8c228d7a2450/go.mod h1:AYinRDfdKMmVKTPI8wOcLgjcw2pTS3jo8fib1VxOzsE=
 github.com/nsqio/go-nsq v1.0.7 h1:O0pIZJYTf+x7cZBA0UMY8WxFG79lYTURmWzAAh48ljY=
 github.com/nsqio/go-nsq v1.0.7/go.mod h1:XP5zaUs3pqf+Q71EqUJs3HYfBIqfK6G83WQMdNN+Ito=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
diff --git a/nsqd/backend_queue.go b/nsqd/backend_queue.go
index 6679bb946..d6390ba13 100644
--- a/nsqd/backend_queue.go
+++ b/nsqd/backend_queue.go
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ package nsqd
 // storage system
 type BackendQueue interface {
 	Put([]byte) error
-	ReadChan() chan []byte // this is expected to be an *unbuffered* channel
+	ReadChan() <-chan []byte // this is expected to be an *unbuffered* channel
 	Close() error
 	Delete() error
 	Depth() int64
diff --git a/nsqd/dummy_backend_queue.go b/nsqd/dummy_backend_queue.go
index 7b200ab98..386f6db52 100644
--- a/nsqd/dummy_backend_queue.go
+++ b/nsqd/dummy_backend_queue.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ func (d *dummyBackendQueue) Put([]byte) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (d *dummyBackendQueue) ReadChan() chan []byte {
+func (d *dummyBackendQueue) ReadChan() <-chan []byte {
 	return d.readChan
 }
 
diff --git a/nsqd/protocol_v2.go b/nsqd/protocol_v2.go
index 31aeeacba..54cd526a9 100644
--- a/nsqd/protocol_v2.go
+++ b/nsqd/protocol_v2.go
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ func (p *protocolV2) Exec(client *clientV2, params [][]byte) ([]byte, error) {
 func (p *protocolV2) messagePump(client *clientV2, startedChan chan bool) {
 	var err error
 	var memoryMsgChan chan *Message
-	var backendMsgChan chan []byte
+	var backendMsgChan <-chan []byte
 	var subChannel *Channel
 	// NOTE: `flusherChan` is used to bound message latency for
 	// the pathological case of a channel on a low volume topic
diff --git a/nsqd/topic.go b/nsqd/topic.go
index cd2b83065..3d7e95f61 100644
--- a/nsqd/topic.go
+++ b/nsqd/topic.go
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ func (t *Topic) messagePump() {
 	var err error
 	var chans []*Channel
 	var memoryMsgChan chan *Message
-	var backendChan chan []byte
+	var backendChan <-chan []byte
 
 	// do not pass messages before Start(), but avoid blocking Pause() or GetChannel()
 	for {
diff --git a/nsqd/topic_test.go b/nsqd/topic_test.go
index 013b7ed08..0f0e1736f 100644
--- a/nsqd/topic_test.go
+++ b/nsqd/topic_test.go
@@ -54,12 +54,12 @@ func TestGetChannel(t *testing.T) {
 
 type errorBackendQueue struct{}
 
-func (d *errorBackendQueue) Put([]byte) error      { return errors.New("never gonna happen") }
-func (d *errorBackendQueue) ReadChan() chan []byte { return nil }
-func (d *errorBackendQueue) Close() error          { return nil }
-func (d *errorBackendQueue) Delete() error         { return nil }
-func (d *errorBackendQueue) Depth() int64          { return 0 }
-func (d *errorBackendQueue) Empty() error          { return nil }
+func (d *errorBackendQueue) Put([]byte) error        { return errors.New("never gonna happen") }
+func (d *errorBackendQueue) ReadChan() <-chan []byte { return nil }
+func (d *errorBackendQueue) Close() error            { return nil }
+func (d *errorBackendQueue) Delete() error           { return nil }
+func (d *errorBackendQueue) Depth() int64            { return 0 }
+func (d *errorBackendQueue) Empty() error            { return nil }
 
 type errorRecoveredBackendQueue struct{ errorBackendQueue }