diff --git a/substrate/core/telemetry/src/worker.rs b/substrate/core/telemetry/src/worker.rs
index e132709378..24a1de8ec4 100644
--- a/substrate/core/telemetry/src/worker.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/telemetry/src/worker.rs
@@ -187,6 +187,25 @@ impl TelemetryWorker {
 /// For some context, we put this object around the `wasm_ext::ExtTransport` in order to make sure
 /// that each telemetry message maps to one single call to `write` in the WASM FFI.
 struct StreamSink<T>(T);
+
+impl<T: tokio_io::AsyncRead> futures01::Stream for StreamSink<T> {
+	type Item = BytesMut;
+	type Error = io::Error;
+
+	fn poll(&mut self) -> futures01::Poll<Option<Self::Item>, Self::Error> {
+		let mut buf = [0; 128];
+		Ok(self.0.poll_read(&mut buf)?
+			.map(|n|
+				if n == 0 {
+					None
+				} else {
+					let buf: BytesMut = buf[..n].into();
+					Some(buf)
+				}
+			))
+	}
+}
+
 impl<T: tokio_io::AsyncWrite> futures01::Sink for StreamSink<T> {
 	type SinkItem = BytesMut;
 	type SinkError = io::Error;
diff --git a/substrate/core/telemetry/src/worker/node.rs b/substrate/core/telemetry/src/worker/node.rs
index 64d150a3be..d6193d4cc6 100644
--- a/substrate/core/telemetry/src/worker/node.rs
+++ b/substrate/core/telemetry/src/worker/node.rs
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ impl<TTrans: Transport> Node<TTrans> {
 
 impl<TTrans: Transport, TSinkErr> Node<TTrans>
 where TTrans: Clone + Unpin, TTrans::Dial: Unpin,
-	TTrans::Output: Sink<BytesMut, Error = TSinkErr> + Unpin, TSinkErr: fmt::Debug {
+	TTrans::Output: Sink<BytesMut, Error = TSinkErr> + Stream + Unpin, TSinkErr: fmt::Debug {
 	/// Sends a WebSocket frame to the node. Returns an error if we are not connected to the node.
 	///
 	/// After calling this method, you should call `poll` in order for it to be properly processed.
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ fn gen_rand_reconnect_delay() -> Delay {
 }
 
 impl<TTrans: Transport, TSinkErr> NodeSocketConnected<TTrans>
-where TTrans::Output: Sink<BytesMut, Error = TSinkErr> + Unpin {
+where TTrans::Output: Sink<BytesMut, Error = TSinkErr> + Stream + Unpin {
 	/// Processes the queue of messages for the connected socket.
 	///
 	/// The address is passed for logging purposes only.
@@ -200,6 +200,7 @@ where TTrans::Output: Sink<BytesMut, Error = TSinkErr> + Unpin {
 					item_len, my_addr
 				);
 				self.need_flush = true;
+
 			} else if self.need_flush {
 				match Sink::poll_flush(Pin::new(&mut self.sink), cx) {
 					Poll::Pending => return Poll::Pending,
@@ -207,6 +208,11 @@ where TTrans::Output: Sink<BytesMut, Error = TSinkErr> + Unpin {
 					Poll::Ready(Ok(())) => self.need_flush = false,
 				}
 
+			} else if let Poll::Ready(_) = Stream::poll_next(Pin::new(&mut self.sink), cx) {
+				// We poll the telemetry `Stream` because the underlying implementation relies on
+				// this in order to answer PINGs.
+				// We don't do anything with incoming messages, however.
+
 			} else {
 				break
 			}