diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index c8b0a78bc6..5e4cfce16d 100755
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -312,8 +312,6 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(fpm,
   AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-fpm], [enable Forwarding Plane Manager support]))
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(systemd,
   AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-systemd], [enable Systemd support]))
-AC_ARG_ENABLE(poll,
-  AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-poll], [enable usage of Poll instead of select]))
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(werror,
   AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-werror], [enable -Werror (recommended for developers only)]))
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(cumulus,
@@ -364,10 +362,6 @@ if test "${enable_rr_semantics}" != "no" ; then
   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_V6_RR_SEMANTICS,, Compile in v6 Route Replacement Semantics)
 fi
 
-if test "${enable_poll}" = "yes" ; then
-  AC_DEFINE(HAVE_POLL_CALL,,Compile systemd support in)
-fi
-
 dnl ----------
 dnl MPLS check
 dnl ----------
diff --git a/lib/thread.c b/lib/thread.c
index 0188ae6c0b..848e39e1ae 100644
--- a/lib/thread.c
+++ b/lib/thread.c
@@ -387,6 +387,7 @@ thread_master_create (void)
   rv->owner = pthread_self();
   pipe (rv->io_pipe);
   set_nonblocking (rv->io_pipe[0]);
+  set_nonblocking (rv->io_pipe[1]);
 
   rv->handler.pfdsize = rv->fd_limit;
   rv->handler.pfdcount = 0;