diff --git a/src/sink.rs b/src/sink.rs
index 43ff530..160a374 100644
--- a/src/sink.rs
+++ b/src/sink.rs
@@ -231,14 +231,19 @@ where
         mut sink_stream: Streaming<sink_pb::SinkRequest>,
         grpc_resp_tx: mpsc::Sender<Result<SinkResponse, Status>>,
     ) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        // loop until the global stream has been shutdown.
         loop {
-            let done = Self::process_sink_batch(
+            // for every batch, we need to read from the stream. The end-of-batch is
+            // encoded in the request.
+            let stream_ended = Self::process_sink_batch(
                 sink_handle.clone(),
                 &mut sink_stream,
                 grpc_resp_tx.clone(),
             )
             .await?;
-            if done {
+
+            if stream_ended {
+                // shutting down, hence exiting the loop
                 break;
             }
         }
@@ -246,7 +251,8 @@ where
     }
 
     /// processes a batch of messages from the client, sends them to the sink handler and sends the
-    /// responses back to the client batches are separated by an EOT message
+    /// responses back to the client batches are separated by an EOT message.
+    /// Returns true if the global bidi-stream has ended, otherwise false.
     async fn process_sink_batch(
         sink_handle: Arc<T>,
         sink_stream: &mut Streaming<sink_pb::SinkRequest>,
@@ -270,12 +276,18 @@ where
             }
         });
 
+        let mut global_stream_ended = false;
+
+        // loop until eot happens on stream is closed.
         loop {
             let message = match sink_stream.message().await {
                 Ok(Some(m)) => m,
                 Ok(None) => {
                     info!("global bidi stream ended");
-                    return Ok(true); // bidi stream ended
+                    // NOTE: this will only happen during shutdown. We can be certain that there
+                    // are no messages left hanging in the UDF.
+                    global_stream_ended = true;
+                    break; // bidi stream ended
                 }
                 Err(e) => {
                     return Err(SinkError(InternalError(format!(
@@ -315,7 +327,7 @@ where
             .await
             .map_err(|e| SinkError(UserDefinedError(e.to_string())))?;
 
-        Ok(false)
+        Ok(global_stream_ended)
     }
 
     /// handles errors from the sink handler and sends them to the client via the response channel
@@ -354,7 +366,7 @@ where
         }
     }
 
-    // performs handshake with the client
+    /// performs handshake with the client
     async fn perform_handshake(
         &self,
         sink_stream: &mut Streaming<sink_pb::SinkRequest>,