diff --git a/passt.c b/passt.c
index 2d674bf..a700e41 100644
--- a/passt.c
+++ b/passt.c
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ char pkt_buf[PKT_BUF_BYTES]	__attribute__ ((aligned(PAGE_SIZE)));
 
 char *epoll_type_str[EPOLL_TYPE_MAX + 1] = {
 	[EPOLL_TYPE_TCP]	= "TCP socket",
+	[EPOLL_TYPE_TCP_TIMER]	= "TCP timer",
 	[EPOLL_TYPE_UDP]	= "UDP socket",
 	[EPOLL_TYPE_ICMP]	= "ICMP socket",
 	[EPOLL_TYPE_ICMPV6]	= "ICMPv6 socket",
@@ -324,6 +325,9 @@ loop:
 			if (!c.no_tcp)
 				tcp_sock_handler(&c, ref, eventmask, &now);
 			break;
+		case EPOLL_TYPE_TCP_TIMER:
+			tcp_timer_handler(&c, ref);
+			break;
 		case EPOLL_TYPE_UDP:
 			udp_sock_handler(&c, ref, eventmask, &now);
 			break;
diff --git a/passt.h b/passt.h
index 8878a11..fc1efdb 100644
--- a/passt.h
+++ b/passt.h
@@ -47,8 +47,10 @@ union epoll_ref;
 enum epoll_type {
 	/* Special value to indicate an invalid type */
 	EPOLL_TYPE_NONE = 0,
-	/* Sockets and timerfds for TCP handling */
+	/* TCP sockets */
 	EPOLL_TYPE_TCP,
+	/* timerfds used for TCP timers */
+	EPOLL_TYPE_TCP_TIMER,
 	/* UDP sockets */
 	EPOLL_TYPE_UDP,
 	/* IPv4 ICMP sockets */
diff --git a/tcp.c b/tcp.c
index 18b781a..98761a2 100644
--- a/tcp.c
+++ b/tcp.c
@@ -663,9 +663,8 @@ static int tcp_epoll_ctl(const struct ctx *c, struct tcp_tap_conn *conn)
 	conn->c.in_epoll = true;
 
 	if (conn->timer != -1) {
-		union epoll_ref ref_t = { .type = EPOLL_TYPE_TCP,
+		union epoll_ref ref_t = { .type = EPOLL_TYPE_TCP_TIMER,
 					  .fd = conn->sock,
-					  .tcp.timer = 1,
 					  .tcp.index = CONN_IDX(conn) };
 		struct epoll_event ev_t = { .data.u64 = ref_t.u64,
 					    .events = EPOLLIN | EPOLLET };
@@ -692,9 +691,8 @@ static void tcp_timer_ctl(const struct ctx *c, struct tcp_tap_conn *conn)
 		return;
 
 	if (conn->timer == -1) {
-		union epoll_ref ref = { .type = EPOLL_TYPE_TCP,
+		union epoll_ref ref = { .type = EPOLL_TYPE_TCP_TIMER,
 					.fd = conn->sock,
-					.tcp.timer = 1,
 					.tcp.index = CONN_IDX(conn) };
 		struct epoll_event ev = { .data.u64 = ref.u64,
 					  .events = EPOLLIN | EPOLLET };
@@ -2813,12 +2811,12 @@ static void tcp_conn_from_sock(struct ctx *c, union epoll_ref ref,
  *
  * #syscalls timerfd_gettime
  */
-static void tcp_timer_handler(struct ctx *c, union epoll_ref ref)
+void tcp_timer_handler(struct ctx *c, union epoll_ref ref)
 {
 	struct tcp_tap_conn *conn = conn_at_idx(ref.tcp.index);
 	struct itimerspec check_armed = { { 0 }, { 0 } };
 
-	if (!conn)
+	if (c->no_tcp || !conn)
 		return;
 
 	/* We don't reset timers on ~ACK_FROM_TAP_DUE, ~ACK_TO_TAP_DUE. If the
@@ -2935,11 +2933,6 @@ void tcp_sock_handler(struct ctx *c, union epoll_ref ref, uint32_t events,
 {
 	union tcp_conn *conn;
 
-	if (ref.tcp.timer) {
-		tcp_timer_handler(c, ref);
-		return;
-	}
-
 	if (ref.tcp.listen) {
 		tcp_conn_from_sock(c, ref, now);
 		return;
diff --git a/tcp.h b/tcp.h
index 5499127..8eb7782 100644
--- a/tcp.h
+++ b/tcp.h
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 struct ctx;
 
+void tcp_timer_handler(struct ctx *c, union epoll_ref ref);
 void tcp_sock_handler(struct ctx *c, union epoll_ref ref, uint32_t events,
 		      const struct timespec *now);
 int tcp_tap_handler(struct ctx *c, int af, const void *addr,
@@ -31,7 +32,6 @@ void tcp_update_l2_buf(const unsigned char *eth_d, const unsigned char *eth_s,
  * union tcp_epoll_ref - epoll reference portion for TCP connections
  * @listen:		Set if this file descriptor is a listening socket
  * @outbound:		Listening socket maps to outbound, spliced connection
- * @timer:		Reference is a timerfd descriptor for connection
  * @index:		Index of connection in table, or port for bound sockets
  * @u32:		Opaque u32 value of reference
  */
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ union tcp_epoll_ref {
 	struct {
 		uint32_t	listen:1,
 				outbound:1,
-				timer:1,
 				index:20;
 	};
 	uint32_t u32;