diff --git a/src/quic_conn.c b/src/quic_conn.c
index 842456114..9a3ce2964 100644
--- a/src/quic_conn.c
+++ b/src/quic_conn.c
@@ -551,11 +551,8 @@ struct task *quic_conn_app_io_cb(struct task *t, void *context, unsigned int sta
 {
 	struct list send_list = LIST_HEAD_INIT(send_list);
 	struct quic_conn *qc = context;
-	struct quic_enc_level *qel;
 
 	TRACE_ENTER(QUIC_EV_CONN_IO_CB, qc);
-
-	qel = qc->ael;
 	TRACE_STATE("connection handshake state", QUIC_EV_CONN_IO_CB, qc, &qc->state);
 
 	if (qc_test_fd(qc))
@@ -594,11 +591,10 @@ struct task *quic_conn_app_io_cb(struct task *t, void *context, unsigned int sta
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	if (!qel_need_sending(qel, qc))
-		goto out;
-
 	/* XXX TODO: how to limit the list frames to send */
-	qel_register_send(&send_list, qel, &qel->pktns->tx.frms);
+	if (qel_need_sending(qc->ael, qc))
+		qel_register_send(&send_list, qc->ael, &qc->ael->pktns->tx.frms);
+
 	if (!qc_send(qc, 0, &send_list)) {
 		TRACE_DEVEL("qc_send() failed", QUIC_EV_CONN_IO_CB, qc);
 		goto out;
@@ -804,10 +800,6 @@ struct task *quic_conn_io_cb(struct task *t, void *context, unsigned int state)
 			qel_register_send(&send_list, qel, &qel->pktns->tx.frms);
 	}
 
-	/* Skip sending if no QEL with frames to sent. */
-	if (LIST_ISEMPTY(&send_list))
-		goto out;
-
 	if (!qc_send(qc, 0, &send_list)) {
 		TRACE_DEVEL("qc_send() failed", QUIC_EV_CONN_IO_CB, qc);
 		goto out;
diff --git a/src/quic_tx.c b/src/quic_tx.c
index 3b710ecb3..39b917652 100644
--- a/src/quic_tx.c
+++ b/src/quic_tx.c
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ static int qc_prep_pkts(struct quic_conn *qc, struct buffer *buf,
 int qc_send(struct quic_conn *qc, int old_data, struct list *send_list)
 {
 	struct quic_enc_level *qel, *tmp_qel;
-	int ret, status = 0;
+	int ret = 0, status = 0;
 	struct buffer *buf;
 
 	TRACE_ENTER(QUIC_EV_CONN_TXPKT, qc);
@@ -713,7 +713,7 @@ int qc_send(struct quic_conn *qc, int old_data, struct list *send_list)
 	}
 
 	/* Prepare and send packets until we could not further prepare packets. */
-	do {
+	while (!LIST_ISEMPTY(send_list)) {
 		/* Buffer must always be empty before qc_prep_pkts() usage.
 		 * qc_send_ppkts() ensures it is cleared on success.
 		 */
@@ -727,7 +727,12 @@ int qc_send(struct quic_conn *qc, int old_data, struct list *send_list)
 				qc_txb_release(qc);
 			goto out;
 		}
-	} while (ret > 0 && !LIST_ISEMPTY(send_list));
+
+		if (ret <= 0) {
+			TRACE_DEVEL("stopping on qc_prep_pkts() return", QUIC_EV_CONN_TXPKT, qc);
+			break;
+		}
+	}
 
 	qc_txb_release(qc);
 	if (ret < 0)