diff --git a/cli/tools/repl.rs b/cli/tools/repl.rs
index 957d60b66b..6c6d262406 100644
--- a/cli/tools/repl.rs
+++ b/cli/tools/repl.rs
@@ -25,24 +25,25 @@ use rustyline::Context;
 use rustyline::Editor;
 use rustyline_derive::{Helper, Hinter};
 use std::borrow::Cow;
+use std::cell::RefCell;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
-use std::sync::mpsc::channel;
-use std::sync::mpsc::sync_channel;
-use std::sync::mpsc::Receiver;
-use std::sync::mpsc::Sender;
-use std::sync::mpsc::SyncSender;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::sync::Mutex;
 use swc_ecmascript::parser::token::{Token, Word};
-use tokio::pin;
+use tokio::sync::mpsc::channel;
+use tokio::sync::mpsc::unbounded_channel;
+use tokio::sync::mpsc::Receiver;
+use tokio::sync::mpsc::Sender;
+use tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedReceiver;
+use tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedSender;
 
 // Provides helpers to the editor like validation for multi-line edits, completion candidates for
 // tab completion.
 #[derive(Helper, Hinter)]
 struct EditorHelper {
   context_id: u64,
-  message_tx: SyncSender<(String, Option<Value>)>,
-  response_rx: Receiver<Result<Value, AnyError>>,
+  message_tx: Sender<(String, Option<Value>)>,
+  response_rx: RefCell<UnboundedReceiver<Result<Value, AnyError>>>,
 }
 
 impl EditorHelper {
@@ -51,8 +52,10 @@ impl EditorHelper {
     method: &str,
     params: Option<Value>,
   ) -> Result<Value, AnyError> {
-    self.message_tx.send((method.to_string(), params))?;
-    self.response_rx.recv()?
+    self
+      .message_tx
+      .blocking_send((method.to_string(), params))?;
+    self.response_rx.borrow_mut().blocking_recv().unwrap()
   }
 
   fn get_global_lexical_scope_names(&self) -> Vec<String> {
@@ -444,7 +447,7 @@ impl ReplSession {
   }
 
   pub async fn run_event_loop(&mut self) -> Result<(), AnyError> {
-    self.worker.run_event_loop(false).await
+    self.worker.run_event_loop(true).await
   }
 
   pub async fn evaluate_line_and_get_output(
@@ -622,39 +625,31 @@ impl ReplSession {
 
 async fn read_line_and_poll(
   repl_session: &mut ReplSession,
-  message_rx: &Receiver<(String, Option<Value>)>,
-  response_tx: &Sender<Result<Value, AnyError>>,
+  message_rx: &mut Receiver<(String, Option<Value>)>,
+  response_tx: &UnboundedSender<Result<Value, AnyError>>,
   editor: ReplEditor,
 ) -> Result<String, ReadlineError> {
-  let mut line = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || editor.readline());
-
+  let mut line_fut = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || editor.readline());
   let mut poll_worker = true;
 
   loop {
-    for (method, params) in message_rx.try_iter() {
-      let result = repl_session
-        .post_message_with_event_loop(&method, params)
-        .await;
-      response_tx.send(result).unwrap();
-    }
-
-    // Because an inspector websocket client may choose to connect at anytime when we have an
-    // inspector server we need to keep polling the worker to pick up new connections.
-    // TODO(piscisaureus): the above comment is a red herring; figure out if/why
-    // the event loop isn't woken by a waker when a websocket client connects.
-    let timeout = tokio::time::sleep(tokio::time::Duration::from_millis(100));
-    pin!(timeout);
-
     tokio::select! {
-      result = &mut line => {
+      result = &mut line_fut => {
         return result.unwrap();
       }
+      result = message_rx.recv() => {
+        if let Some((method, params)) = result {
+          let result = repl_session
+            .post_message_with_event_loop(&method, params)
+            .await;
+          response_tx.send(result).unwrap();
+        }
+
+        poll_worker = true;
+      },
       _ = repl_session.run_event_loop(), if poll_worker => {
         poll_worker = false;
       }
-      _ = timeout => {
-        poll_worker = true
-      }
     }
   }
 }
@@ -664,13 +659,13 @@ pub async fn run(
   worker: MainWorker,
 ) -> Result<(), AnyError> {
   let mut repl_session = ReplSession::initialize(worker).await?;
-  let (message_tx, message_rx) = sync_channel(1);
-  let (response_tx, response_rx) = channel();
+  let (message_tx, mut message_rx) = channel(1);
+  let (response_tx, response_rx) = unbounded_channel();
 
   let helper = EditorHelper {
     context_id: repl_session.context_id,
     message_tx,
-    response_rx,
+    response_rx: RefCell::new(response_rx),
   };
 
   let history_file_path = program_state.dir.root.join("deno_history.txt");
@@ -682,7 +677,7 @@ pub async fn run(
   loop {
     let line = read_line_and_poll(
       &mut repl_session,
-      &message_rx,
+      &mut message_rx,
       &response_tx,
       editor.clone(),
     )
diff --git a/runtime/worker.rs b/runtime/worker.rs
index 567e752536..091b971193 100644
--- a/runtime/worker.rs
+++ b/runtime/worker.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ use crate::ops;
 use crate::permissions::Permissions;
 use deno_broadcast_channel::InMemoryBroadcastChannel;
 use deno_core::error::AnyError;
-use deno_core::futures::future::poll_fn;
 use deno_core::futures::stream::StreamExt;
 use deno_core::futures::Future;
 use deno_core::located_script_name;
@@ -247,7 +246,7 @@ impl MainWorker {
     &mut self,
     wait_for_inspector: bool,
   ) -> Result<(), AnyError> {
-    poll_fn(|cx| self.poll_event_loop(cx, wait_for_inspector)).await
+    self.js_runtime.run_event_loop(wait_for_inspector).await
   }
 
   /// A utility function that runs provided future concurrently with the event loop.