diff --git a/substrate/client/src/client.rs b/substrate/client/src/client.rs
index 699e3320ff..adfdfb4b63 100644
--- a/substrate/client/src/client.rs
+++ b/substrate/client/src/client.rs
@@ -208,11 +208,9 @@ impl<B, E, Block, RA> LockImportRun<Block, B> for Client<B, E, Block, RA>
 
 			let ClientImportOperation { op, notify_imported, notify_finalized } = op;
 			self.backend.commit_operation(op)?;
-			self.notify_finalized(notify_finalized)?;
 
-			if let Some(notify_imported) = notify_imported {
-				self.notify_imported(notify_imported)?;
-			}
+			self.notify_finalized(notify_finalized)?;
+			self.notify_imported(notify_imported)?;
 
 			Ok(r)
 		};
@@ -919,6 +917,15 @@ impl<B, E, Block, RA> Client<B, E, Block, RA> where
 	) -> sp_blockchain::Result<()> {
 		let mut sinks = self.finality_notification_sinks.lock();
 
+		if notify_finalized.is_empty() {
+			// cleanup any closed finality notification sinks
+			// since we won't be running the loop below which
+			// would also remove any closed sinks.
+			sinks.retain(|sink| !sink.is_closed());
+
+			return Ok(());
+		}
+
 		for finalized_hash in notify_finalized {
 			let header = self.header(&BlockId::Hash(finalized_hash))?
 				.expect("header already known to exist in DB because it is indicated in the tree route; qed");
@@ -939,7 +946,27 @@ impl<B, E, Block, RA> Client<B, E, Block, RA> where
 		Ok(())
 	}
 
-	fn notify_imported(&self, notify_import: ImportSummary<Block>) -> sp_blockchain::Result<()> {
+	fn notify_imported(
+		&self,
+		notify_import: Option<ImportSummary<Block>>,
+	) -> sp_blockchain::Result<()> {
+		let notify_import = match notify_import {
+			Some(notify_import) => notify_import,
+			None => {
+				// cleanup any closed import notification sinks since we won't
+				// be sending any notifications below which would remove any
+				// closed sinks. this is necessary since during initial sync we
+				// won't send any import notifications which could lead to a
+				// temporary leak of closed/discarded notification sinks (e.g.
+				// from consensus code).
+				self.import_notification_sinks
+					.lock()
+					.retain(|sink| !sink.is_closed());
+
+				return Ok(());
+			}
+		};
+
 		if let Some(storage_changes) = notify_import.storage_changes {
 			// TODO [ToDr] How to handle re-orgs? Should we re-emit all storage changes?
 			self.storage_notifications.lock()
@@ -3410,4 +3437,79 @@ pub(crate) mod tests {
 			.collect();
 		assert_eq!(res, [hex!("cf722c0832b5231d35e29f319ff27389f5032bfc7bfc3ba5ed7839f2042fb99f").to_vec()]);
 	}
+
+	#[test]
+	fn cleans_up_closed_notification_sinks_on_block_import() {
+		use substrate_test_runtime_client::GenesisInit;
+
+		// NOTE: we need to build the client here instead of using the client
+		// provided by test_runtime_client otherwise we can't access the private
+		// `import_notification_sinks` and `finality_notification_sinks` fields.
+		let mut client =
+			new_in_mem::<
+				_,
+				substrate_test_runtime_client::runtime::Block,
+				_,
+				substrate_test_runtime_client::runtime::RuntimeApi
+			>(
+				substrate_test_runtime_client::new_native_executor(),
+				&substrate_test_runtime_client::GenesisParameters::default().genesis_storage(),
+				None,
+				None,
+			)
+			.unwrap();
+
+		type TestClient = Client<
+			in_mem::Backend<Block>,
+			LocalCallExecutor<in_mem::Backend<Block>, sc_executor::NativeExecutor<LocalExecutor>>,
+			substrate_test_runtime_client::runtime::Block,
+			substrate_test_runtime_client::runtime::RuntimeApi,
+		>;
+
+		let import_notif1 = client.import_notification_stream();
+		let import_notif2 = client.import_notification_stream();
+		let finality_notif1 = client.finality_notification_stream();
+		let finality_notif2 = client.finality_notification_stream();
+
+		// for some reason I can't seem to use `ClientBlockImportExt`
+		let bake_and_import_block = |client: &mut TestClient, origin| {
+			let block = client
+				.new_block(Default::default())
+				.unwrap()
+				.build()
+				.unwrap()
+				.block;
+
+			let (header, extrinsics) = block.deconstruct();
+			let mut import = BlockImportParams::new(origin, header);
+			import.body = Some(extrinsics);
+			import.fork_choice = Some(ForkChoiceStrategy::LongestChain);
+			client.import_block(import, Default::default()).unwrap();
+		};
+
+		// after importing a block we should still have 4 notification sinks
+		// (2 import + 2 finality)
+		bake_and_import_block(&mut client, BlockOrigin::Own);
+		assert_eq!(client.import_notification_sinks.lock().len(), 2);
+		assert_eq!(client.finality_notification_sinks.lock().len(), 2);
+
+		// if we drop one import notification receiver and one finality
+		// notification receiver
+		drop(import_notif2);
+		drop(finality_notif2);
+
+		// the sinks should be cleaned up after block import
+		bake_and_import_block(&mut client, BlockOrigin::Own);
+		assert_eq!(client.import_notification_sinks.lock().len(), 1);
+		assert_eq!(client.finality_notification_sinks.lock().len(), 1);
+
+		// the same thing should happen if block import happens during initial
+		// sync
+		drop(import_notif1);
+		drop(finality_notif1);
+
+		bake_and_import_block(&mut client, BlockOrigin::NetworkInitialSync);
+		assert_eq!(client.import_notification_sinks.lock().len(), 0);
+		assert_eq!(client.finality_notification_sinks.lock().len(), 0);
+	}
 }