diff --git a/pkgs/split/split.go b/pkgs/split/split.go
index de410d174..63cea5d10 100644
--- a/pkgs/split/split.go
+++ b/pkgs/split/split.go
@@ -55,7 +55,13 @@ type JoinMessage struct {
 //  for chunk := range channel {
 //    log.Println(chunk.Data)
 //  }
-func SplitStream(reader io.Reader, chunkSize uint64, ch chan SplitMessage) {
+func SplitStream(reader io.Reader, chunkSize uint64) <-chan SplitMessage {
+	ch := make(chan SplitMessage)
+	go splitStreamGoRoutine(reader, chunkSize, ch)
+	return ch
+}
+
+func splitStreamGoRoutine(reader io.Reader, chunkSize uint64, ch chan SplitMessage) {
 	// we read until EOF or another error
 	var readError error
 
@@ -95,7 +101,13 @@ func SplitStream(reader io.Reader, chunkSize uint64, ch chan SplitMessage) {
 	close(ch)
 }
 
-func JoinStream(dirname string, inputPrefix string, ch chan JoinMessage) {
+func JoinStream(dirname string, inputPrefix string) <-chan JoinMessage {
+	ch := make(chan JoinMessage)
+	go joinStreamGoRoutine(dirname, inputPrefix, ch)
+	return ch
+}
+
+func joinStreamGoRoutine(dirname string, inputPrefix string, ch chan JoinMessage) {
 	var readError error
 
 	var bytesBuffer bytes.Buffer
@@ -147,8 +159,7 @@ func JoinFilesWithPrefix(dirname string, inputPrefix string, outputFile string)
 		return errors.New("Invalid output file")
 	}
 
-	ch := make(chan JoinMessage)
-	go JoinStream(dirname, inputPrefix, ch)
+	ch := JoinStream(dirname, inputPrefix)
 
 	var multiReaders []io.Reader
 	var aggregatedLength int64
@@ -194,8 +205,7 @@ func SplitFilesWithPrefix(filename string, chunkstr string, outputPrefix string)
 	}
 
 	// start stream splitting goroutine
-	ch := make(chan SplitMessage)
-	go SplitStream(file, chunkSize, ch)
+	ch := SplitStream(file, chunkSize)
 
 	// used to write each chunk out as a separate file. {{outputPrefix}}.{{i}}
 	i := 0
diff --git a/pkgs/split/split_test.go b/pkgs/split/split_test.go
index cf0733fdf..3ccddafec 100644
--- a/pkgs/split/split_test.go
+++ b/pkgs/split/split_test.go
@@ -38,9 +38,8 @@ func (s *MySuite) TestSplitStream(c *C) {
 		bytesWriter.Write([]byte(strconv.Itoa(i)))
 	}
 	bytesWriter.Flush()
-	ch := make(chan SplitMessage)
 	reader := bytes.NewReader(bytesBuffer.Bytes())
-	go SplitStream(reader, 25, ch)
+	ch := SplitStream(reader, 25)
 	var resultsBuffer bytes.Buffer
 	resultsWriter := bufio.NewWriter(&resultsBuffer)
 	for chunk := range ch {
diff --git a/pkgs/storage/encodedstorage/encoded_storage.go b/pkgs/storage/encodedstorage/encoded_storage.go
index a58dc8b37..637c3754a 100644
--- a/pkgs/storage/encodedstorage/encoded_storage.go
+++ b/pkgs/storage/encodedstorage/encoded_storage.go
@@ -136,8 +136,7 @@ func (eStorage *encodedStorage) List(objectPath string) ([]storage.ObjectDescrip
 
 func (eStorage *encodedStorage) Put(objectPath string, object io.Reader) error {
 	// split
-	chunks := make(chan split.SplitMessage)
-	go split.SplitStream(object, eStorage.BlockSize, chunks)
+	chunks := split.SplitStream(object, eStorage.BlockSize)
 
 	// for each chunk
 	encoderParameters, err := erasure.ParseEncoderParams(eStorage.K, eStorage.M, erasure.CAUCHY)