diff --git a/pyircbot/irccore.py b/pyircbot/irccore.py
index 6af8aca..24b6690 100644
--- a/pyircbot/irccore.py
+++ b/pyircbot/irccore.py
@@ -88,13 +88,14 @@ class IRCCore(object):
                 logging.info("Reconnecting in 3s...")
                 await asyncio.sleep(3)
 
-    async def kill(self, message="Help! Another thread is killing me :("):
+    async def kill(self, message="Help! Another thread is killing me :(", forever=True):
         """Send quit message, flush queue, and close the socket
 
         :param message: Quit message to send before disconnecting
         :type message: str
         """
-        self.alive = False
+        if forever:
+            self.alive = False
         self.act_QUIT(message)  # TODO will this hang if the socket is having issues?
         await self.writer.drain()
         self.writer.close()
diff --git a/pyircbot/modules/PingResponder.py b/pyircbot/modules/PingResponder.py
index 3b3704c..addaa6b 100755
--- a/pyircbot/modules/PingResponder.py
+++ b/pyircbot/modules/PingResponder.py
@@ -59,6 +59,6 @@ class PingRespondTimer(Thread):
             sleep(5)
             if time() - self.lastping > self.master.config.get("activity_timeout", 300):
                 self.master.log.info("No activity in %s seconds. Reconnecting" % str(time() - self.lastping))
-                self.master.bot.disconnect("Reconnecting...")
+                self.master.bot.kill("Ping timeout", forever=False)
                 self.reset()
 
diff --git a/pyircbot/pyircbot.py b/pyircbot/pyircbot.py
index 4f3eb64..b2ea7c7 100644
--- a/pyircbot/pyircbot.py
+++ b/pyircbot/pyircbot.py
@@ -92,16 +92,20 @@ class PyIRCBot(object):
         self.log.info("disconnect")
         self.kill(message=message)
 
-    def kill(self, message="Help! Another thread is killing me :("):
-        """Shut down the bot violently
+    def break_connection(self):
+        """Break the connection, e.g. in the case of an unresponsive server"""
+
+    def kill(self, message="Help! Another thread is killing me :(", forever=True):
+        """Close the connection violently
 
         :param sys_exit: True causes sys.exit(0) to be called
         :type sys_exit: bool
         :param message: Quit message
         :type message: str
         """
-        self.closeAllModules()
-        asyncio.run_coroutine_threadsafe(self.irc.kill(message=message), self.loop)
+        if forever:
+            self.closeAllModules()
+        asyncio.run_coroutine_threadsafe(self.irc.kill(message=message, forever=forever), self.loop)
 
     def initModules(self):
         """load modules specified in instance config"""