diff --git a/httplib.h b/httplib.h
index d12a3f6..c52ba15 100644
--- a/httplib.h
+++ b/httplib.h
@@ -22843,6 +22843,14 @@ inline void WebSocket::start_heartbeat() {
       if (max_missed_pongs_ > 0 && unacked_pings_ >= max_missed_pongs_) {
         lock.unlock();
         close(CloseStatus::GoingAway, "pong timeout");
+        // Wake a read() blocked on the unresponsive peer. Only the read side
+        // is shut down: a TLS backend answers the EOF with an alert, and
+        // writing it to a socket closed for writing raises SIGPIPE.
+#ifdef _WIN32
+        shutdown(strm_.socket(), SD_RECEIVE);
+#else
+        shutdown(strm_.socket(), SHUT_RD);
+#endif
         return;
       }
       lock.unlock();
diff --git a/test/test_websocket_heartbeat.cc b/test/test_websocket_heartbeat.cc
index 334ff10..4242a49 100644
--- a/test/test_websocket_heartbeat.cc
+++ b/test/test_websocket_heartbeat.cc
@@ -179,18 +179,20 @@ protected:
 TEST_F(WebSocketPongTimeoutTest, ClientDetectsNonResponsivePeer) {
   ws::WebSocketClient client("ws://localhost:" + std::to_string(port_) + "/ws");
   client.set_websocket_max_missed_pongs(2);
+  // A read timeout asked for at runtime is reported as Timeout, so it cannot
+  // be mistaken for the Fail a pong timeout produces.
+  client.set_read_timeout(10);
   ASSERT_TRUE(client.connect());
   ASSERT_TRUE(client.is_open());
 
   // Client pings every 1s (compile-time default in this test file).
   // With max_missed_pongs = 2, the heartbeat thread should self-close within
-  // roughly 3s. Poll is_open() up to 6s.
+  // roughly 3s, and that has to end a read() already waiting on the peer.
   auto start = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
-  while (client.is_open() &&
-         std::chrono::steady_clock::now() - start < std::chrono::seconds(6)) {
-    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(100));
-  }
-
+  std::string msg;
+  EXPECT_EQ(client.read(msg), ws::Fail);
+  EXPECT_TRUE(std::chrono::steady_clock::now() - start <
+              std::chrono::seconds(6));
   EXPECT_FALSE(client.is_open());
 }