diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 0c7b0fe..8ff714e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1815,7 +1815,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sourmash_plugin_directsketch"
-version = "0.2.1"
+version = "0.2.2"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "async_zip",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 835f0ec..e061267 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 
 [package]
 name = "sourmash_plugin_directsketch"
-version = "0.2.1"
+version = "0.2.2"
 edition = "2021"
 
 [lib]
diff --git a/src/directsketch.rs b/src/directsketch.rs
index 743d316..9ec1f82 100644
--- a/src/directsketch.rs
+++ b/src/directsketch.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::fs::{self, create_dir_all};
 use std::io::Cursor;
 use std::path::Path;
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use tokio::fs::File;
 use tokio::io::{AsyncWriteExt, BufWriter};
@@ -581,6 +582,21 @@ pub fn failures_handle(
     })
 }
 
+pub fn error_handler(
+    mut recv_errors: tokio::sync::mpsc::Receiver<anyhow::Error>,
+    error_flag: Arc<AtomicBool>,
+) -> tokio::task::JoinHandle<()> {
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        while let Some(error) = recv_errors.recv().await {
+            eprintln!("Error: {}", error);
+            if error.to_string().contains("No signatures written") {
+                error_flag.store(true, Ordering::SeqCst);
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+    })
+}
+
 #[tokio::main]
 #[allow(clippy::too_many_arguments)]
 pub async fn download_and_sketch(
@@ -611,17 +627,20 @@ pub async fn download_and_sketch(
 
     // // create channels. buffer size can be changed - here it is 4 b/c we can do 3 downloads simultaneously
     // // to do: see whether increasing buffer size speeds things up
-    let (send_sigs, recv_sigs) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel::<Vec<Signature>>(4);
-    let (send_failed, recv_failed) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel::<FailedDownload>(4);
+    let (send_sigs, recv_sigs) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel::<Vec<Signature>>(1000);
+    let (send_failed, recv_failed) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel::<FailedDownload>(100);
     // // Error channel for handling task errors
-    let (error_sender, mut error_receiver) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel::<anyhow::Error>(1);
+    let (error_sender, error_receiver) = tokio::sync::mpsc::channel::<anyhow::Error>(1);
 
     // //  // Set up collector/writing tasks
     let mut handles = Vec::new();
     let sig_handle = sigwriter_handle(recv_sigs, output_sigs, error_sender.clone());
     let failures_handle = failures_handle(failed_csv, recv_failed, error_sender.clone());
+    let critical_error_flag = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
+    let error_handle = error_handler(error_receiver, critical_error_flag.clone());
     handles.push(sig_handle);
     handles.push(failures_handle);
+    handles.push(error_handle);
 
     // // Worker tasks
     let semaphore = Arc::new(Semaphore::new(3)); // Limiting concurrent downloads
@@ -713,16 +732,14 @@ pub async fn download_and_sketch(
     // Wait for all tasks to complete
     for handle in handles {
         if let Err(e) = handle.await {
-            eprintln!("A task encountered an error: {}", e);
+            eprintln!("Handle join error: {}.", e);
         }
     }
-    // // Handle errors received from the error channel
-    while let Some(error) = error_receiver.recv().await {
-        eprintln!("Error: {}", error);
-        // Check if the error message contains "No signatures written"
-        if error.to_string().contains("No signatures written") & !download_only {
-            bail!("{}.", error);
-        }
+    // since the only critical error is not having written any sigs
+    // check this here at end. Bail if we wrote expected sigs but wrote none.
+    if critical_error_flag.load(Ordering::SeqCst) & !download_only {
+        bail!("No signatures written, exiting.");
     }
+
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/tests/test_gbsketch.py b/tests/test_gbsketch.py
index 5b398e6..0e12224 100644
--- a/tests/test_gbsketch.py
+++ b/tests/test_gbsketch.py
@@ -292,4 +292,4 @@ def test_gbsketch_bad_acc_fail(runtmp, capfd):
     captured = capfd.readouterr()
     print(captured.out)
     print(captured.err)
-    assert "Error: No signatures written." in captured.err
\ No newline at end of file
+    assert "Error: No signatures written, exiting." in captured.err
\ No newline at end of file