diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index e12d51a0..3c3bddde 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -521,6 +521,7 @@ TESTS += tests/test-zmq-endpoints.sh
 TESTS += tests/test-socket-frag.sh
 TESTS += tests/test-msgmod.sh
 TESTS += tests/test-kicker.sh
+TESTS += tests/test-kicker-concurrent.sh
 TESTS += tests/test-daemon.sh
 TESTS += tests/test-sample.sh
 
diff --git a/nmsg/io.c b/nmsg/io.c
index 9f13fb06..d8123b69 100644
--- a/nmsg/io.c
+++ b/nmsg/io.c
@@ -741,30 +741,24 @@ io_write(struct nmsg_io_thr *iothr, struct nmsg_io_output *io_output,
 	nmsg_io_t io = iothr->io;
 	nmsg_res res;
 
-	/* It's possible a set "count" has been reached. */
-	check_close_event(iothr, io_output, 1);
-
-	if (io->stop) {
-		reset_close_event(iothr, io_output);
-		nmsg_message_destroy(&msg);
-		return (nmsg_res_stop);
-	}
 
 	res = nmsg_output_write(io_output->output, msg);
 	if (io_output->output->type != nmsg_output_type_callback)
 		nmsg_message_destroy(&msg);
 
-	/*
-	 * Reset only after the write, in case another thread invokes
-	 * check_close_event and makes changes to io_output in the meantime.
-	 */
-	reset_close_event(iothr, io_output);
-
 	if (res != nmsg_res_success)
 		return (res);
 
 	atomic_fetch_add_explicit(&io->io_count_nmsg_payload_out, 1, memory_order_relaxed);
 
+	/* It's possible a set "count" has been reached. */
+	check_close_event(iothr, io_output, 1);
+	reset_close_event(iothr, io_output);
+
+	if (io->stop) {
+		return (nmsg_res_stop);
+	}
+
 	return (res);
 }
 
@@ -797,6 +791,8 @@ check_close_event(struct nmsg_io_thr *iothr, struct nmsg_io_output *io_output, u
 	if (io->count > 0 && io_output->count_next_close == 0)
 		io_output->count_next_close = io->count;
 
+	io_output->count_nmsg_payload_out += count;
+
 	if (io->count > 0 &&
 	    io_output->count_nmsg_payload_out == io_output->count_next_close)
 	{
@@ -856,13 +852,6 @@ check_close_event(struct nmsg_io_thr *iothr, struct nmsg_io_output *io_output, u
 	}
 
 out:
-	/*
-	 * This incr is implicitly locked IF it's used, and this counter is
-	 * only used IF io->count > 0; that condition results in an acquired
-	 * lock at the beginning of this function.
-	 */
-	io_output->count_nmsg_payload_out += count;
-
 	if (io->close_fp != NULL || io->count > 0)
 		pthread_mutex_unlock(&io_output->lock);
 }
diff --git a/tests/test-kicker-concurrent.sh b/tests/test-kicker-concurrent.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cf688416
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-kicker-concurrent.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+nmsgtool=$abs_top_builddir/src/nmsgtool
+sample=$abs_top_srcdir/tests/generic-tests/lorem.json
+outdir=$abs_top_builddir/tests/test-kicker-concurrent/
+mkdir -p "$outdir"; cd "$outdir"
+
+for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8; do cp "$sample" "in$i.json"; done
+
+TSAN_OPTIONS="halt_on_error=1 exitcode=99" \
+"$nmsgtool" -ddd \
+    -j in1.json -j in2.json -j in3.json -j in4.json \
+    -j in5.json -j in6.json -j in7.json -j in8.json \
+    -c 1 -k "echo" -w out > kicked.list 2>run.log
+rc=$?
+
+[ $rc -ne 99 ] || { echo "FAIL: race condition "; cat run.log; exit 1; }
+[ $rc -eq 0 ]  || { echo "FAIL: nmsgtool exit $rc";  cat run.log; exit 1; }
+
+files=$(wc -l < kicked.list)
+[ "$files" -ge 100 ] || { echo "FAIL: only $files rotations"; exit 1; }
+echo PASS