diff --git a/iroh-blobs/src/util/progress.rs b/iroh-blobs/src/util/progress.rs
index 8b6807a7f3..9bfb98d39e 100644
--- a/iroh-blobs/src/util/progress.rs
+++ b/iroh-blobs/src/util/progress.rs
@@ -471,19 +471,6 @@ impl<T> Clone for FlumeProgressSender<T> {
     }
 }
 
-fn same_channel<T>(a: &async_channel::Sender<T>, b: &async_channel::Sender<T>) -> bool {
-    assert!(std::mem::size_of::<async_channel::Sender<T>>() == std::mem::size_of::<usize>());
-    fn get_arc_reference<T>(x: &async_channel::Sender<T>) -> &Arc<()> {
-        unsafe {
-            // Transmute the reference to MyNewType to a reference to Arc<()>
-            std::mem::transmute::<_, &Arc<()>>(x)
-        }
-    }
-    let a = get_arc_reference(a);
-    let b = get_arc_reference(b);
-    Arc::ptr_eq(a, b)
-}
-
 impl<T> FlumeProgressSender<T> {
     /// Create a new progress sender from a flume sender.
     pub fn new(sender: async_channel::Sender<T>) -> Self {
@@ -499,6 +486,22 @@ impl<T> FlumeProgressSender<T> {
     }
 }
 
+fn get_as_ptr<T>(value: &T) -> Option<usize> {
+    use std::mem;
+    if mem::size_of::<T>() == std::mem::size_of::<usize>() && mem::align_of::<T>() == mem::align_of::<usize>() {
+        // Safe only if size and alignment requirements are met
+        unsafe {
+            Some(mem::transmute_copy(value))
+        }
+    } else {
+        None
+    }
+}
+
+fn same_channel<T>(a: &async_channel::Sender<T>, b: &async_channel::Sender<T>) -> bool {
+    get_as_ptr(a).unwrap() == get_as_ptr(b).unwrap()
+}
+
 impl<T> IdGenerator for FlumeProgressSender<T> {
     fn new_id(&self) -> u64 {
         self.id.fetch_add(1, std::sync::atomic::Ordering::SeqCst)
diff --git a/iroh-docs/src/actor.rs b/iroh-docs/src/actor.rs
index 5a04fb8599..79bd34ad28 100644
--- a/iroh-docs/src/actor.rs
+++ b/iroh-docs/src/actor.rs
@@ -581,6 +581,9 @@ impl Drop for SyncHandle {
     fn drop(&mut self) {
         // this means we're dropping the last reference
         if let Some(handle) = Arc::get_mut(&mut self.join_handle) {
+            // this call is the reason tx can not be a tokio mpsc channel.
+            // we have no control about where drop is called, yet tokio send_blocking panics
+            // when called from inside a tokio runtime.
             self.tx.send_blocking(Action::Shutdown { reply: None }).ok();
             let handle = handle.take().expect("this can only run once");
             if let Err(err) = handle.join() {
diff --git a/iroh-docs/src/sync.rs b/iroh-docs/src/sync.rs
index 4627026c6a..4e0795c3dd 100644
--- a/iroh-docs/src/sync.rs
+++ b/iroh-docs/src/sync.rs
@@ -107,18 +107,20 @@ pub struct SyncOutcome {
     /// Number of entries we sent.
     pub num_sent: usize,
 }
-
-fn same_channel<T>(a: &async_channel::Sender<T>, b: &async_channel::Sender<T>) -> bool {
-    assert!(std::mem::size_of::<async_channel::Sender<T>>() == std::mem::size_of::<usize>());
-    fn get_arc_reference<T>(x: &async_channel::Sender<T>) -> &Arc<()> {
+fn get_as_ptr<T>(value: &T) -> Option<usize> {
+    use std::mem;
+    if mem::size_of::<T>() == std::mem::size_of::<usize>() && mem::align_of::<T>() == mem::align_of::<usize>() {
+        // Safe only if size and alignment requirements are met
         unsafe {
-            // Transmute the reference to MyNewType to a reference to Arc<()>
-            std::mem::transmute::<_, &Arc<()>>(x)
+            Some(mem::transmute_copy(value))
         }
+    } else {
+        None
     }
-    let a = get_arc_reference(a);
-    let b = get_arc_reference(b);
-    Arc::ptr_eq(a, b)
+}
+
+fn same_channel<T>(a: &async_channel::Sender<T>, b: &async_channel::Sender<T>) -> bool {
+    get_as_ptr(a).unwrap() == get_as_ptr(b).unwrap()
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Default)]