diff --git a/src/api/api_msg.c b/src/api/api_msg.c
index 9dfea64e..8b7a6bd9 100644
--- a/src/api/api_msg.c
+++ b/src/api/api_msg.c
@@ -780,7 +780,8 @@ netconn_drain(struct netconn *conn)
   /* Delete and drain the acceptmbox. */
 #if LWIP_TCP
   if (sys_mbox_valid(&conn->acceptmbox)) {
-    while (sys_mbox_tryfetch(&conn->acceptmbox, &mem) != SYS_MBOX_EMPTY) {
+    while ((sys_mbox_tryfetch(&conn->acceptmbox, &mem) != SYS_MBOX_EMPTY) &&
+           (mem != &netconn_aborted)) {
       struct netconn *newconn = (struct netconn *)mem;
       /* Only tcp pcbs have an acceptmbox, so no need to check conn->type */
       /* pcb might be set to NULL already by err_tcp() */