diff --git a/src/daemon/admin/index.ts b/src/daemon/admin/index.ts
index 569e1c3..a54ad60 100644
--- a/src/daemon/admin/index.ts
+++ b/src/daemon/admin/index.ts
@@ -110,13 +110,9 @@ class AdminInterface {
 
         this.config().then((config) => {
             if (config.admin?.notifyAdminsOnBoot) {
-                // .catch so a boot-DM failure can't surface as an unhandled
-                // rejection (process-terminating under Node defaults). #48 / CS-3.
-                this.notifyAdminsOfNewConnection(connectionString).catch((e) =>
-                    console.log('notifyAdminsOfNewConnection failed:', e?.message ?? e),
-                );
+                this.notifyAdminsOfNewConnection(connectionString);
             }
-        }).catch((e) => console.log('config() failed during admin init:', e?.message ?? e));
+        });
     }
 
     public async config(): Promise<IConfig> {
@@ -131,26 +127,13 @@ class AdminInterface {
         const sk = secretKeyBytes(this.adminNsec);
         const pool = new RelayPool(['wss://blastr.f7z.xyz', 'wss://nostr.mutinywallet.com'], {});
         pool.start();
-        // Wait until at least one relay is actually connected (capped), rather
-        // than a fixed sleep — these external public relays can be slow to come
-        // up, and a too-short fixed wait made the DM publish fail on boot. Still
-        // best-effort: if none connect in time we fall through and dmUser logs
-        // the publish failure without affecting the daemon. (#48)
-        const deadline = Date.now() + 8000;
-        while (pool.connectedCount() === 0 && Date.now() < deadline) {
-            await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 100));
-        }
+        // Give the connections a moment to come up before publishing.
+        await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 2500));
 
-        // try/finally so a throw mid-loop can't leak the pool's reconnect loops +
-        // sockets for the process lifetime (#48 / review CS-3). dmUser itself is
-        // now fully guarded, but keep the finally as belt-and-suspenders.
-        try {
-            for (const npub of this.npubs || []) {
-                await dmUser(sk, npub, `nsecBunker has started; use ${connectionString} to connect to it and unlock your key(s)`, pool);
-            }
-        } finally {
-            pool.stop();
+        for (const npub of this.npubs || []) {
+            await dmUser(sk, npub, `nsecBunker has started; use ${connectionString} to connect to it and unlock your key(s)`, pool);
         }
+        pool.stop();
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/utils/dm-user.ts b/src/utils/dm-user.ts
index 34c6add..db3dc06 100644
--- a/src/utils/dm-user.ts
+++ b/src/utils/dm-user.ts
@@ -12,26 +12,22 @@ export async function dmUser(
     content: string,
     pool: RelayPool,
 ): Promise<void> {
-    // Guard the whole thing: nip19.decode throws on a malformed npub (passes the
-    // startsWith check but fails the bech32 checksum), and that previously threw
-    // *before* the publish try, escaping the caller. Best-effort — never throw.
-    // (review CS-3)
+    const recipientHex = recipient.startsWith("npub1")
+        ? (nip19.decode(recipient).data as string)
+        : recipient;
+    const ciphertext = nip04.encrypt(sk, recipientHex, content);
+    const event = finalizeEvent(
+        {
+            kind: 4,
+            created_at: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000),
+            tags: [["p", recipientHex]],
+            content: ciphertext,
+        },
+        sk,
+    );
     try {
-        const recipientHex = recipient.startsWith("npub1")
-            ? (nip19.decode(recipient).data as string)
-            : recipient;
-        const ciphertext = nip04.encrypt(sk, recipientHex, content);
-        const event = finalizeEvent(
-            {
-                kind: 4,
-                created_at: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000),
-                tags: [["p", recipientHex]],
-                content: ciphertext,
-            },
-            sk,
-        );
         await pool.publish(event);
     } catch (e) {
-        console.log('dmUser failed for', recipient, '-', (e as any)?.message ?? e);
+        console.log(e);
     }
 }