diff --git a/socket_io.py b/socket_io.py
index 11c573d..e8e1acf 100644
--- a/socket_io.py
+++ b/socket_io.py
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ def on_disconnect(self, client):
     
     def __init__(self):
         self.clients = {}
+        self.closed = False
     
     def _handle(self, info):
         command = info['command']
@@ -217,10 +218,13 @@ def listen(self, ws_port, py_port=None):
         os.close(handle)
         
         # run that script in node.js
-        process = subprocess.Popen(['node', path])
+        env = os.environ
+        env["NODE_PATH"] = NodePath()
+        process = subprocess.Popen(['node', path], env=env)
         def cleanup():
             process.kill()
-            os.remove(path)
+            if os.path.exists(path):
+                os.remove(path)
         atexit.register(cleanup)
         
         # make sure we can communicate with node.js
@@ -236,10 +240,21 @@ def send(data, info):
         
         # run the server
         buffer = ''
-        while 1:
-            buffer += sock.recv(4096)
+        while not self.closed:
+            response = sock.recv(4096)
+            if response == "":
+                print "Node.js <-> Python socket broke in Socket.IO"
+                break
+            buffer += response
             index = buffer.find('\0')
             while index >= 0:
                 data, buffer = buffer[0:index], buffer[index+1:]
                 self._handle(json.loads(data))
                 index = buffer.find('\0')
+        cleanup()
+    
+    def close(self):
+        self.closed = True
+
+def NodePath():
+    return os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "node_modules")