diff --git a/internal/worker/listener.go b/internal/worker/listener.go
index ec1c88b9..c1c50eae 100644
--- a/internal/worker/listener.go
+++ b/internal/worker/listener.go
@@ -109,12 +109,8 @@ func (l *Listener) OutputProduced(ctx context.Context, taskID string, outputLoca
 }
 
 func (l *Listener) sendTaskUpdate(ctx context.Context, taskID string, update api.TaskUpdateJSONRequestBody) error {
-	// Check whether the context is closed before doing anything.
-	select {
-	default:
-	case <-ctx.Done():
+	if ctx.Err() != nil {
 		return ctx.Err()
 	}
-
 	return l.buffer.SendTaskUpdate(ctx, taskID, update)
 }
diff --git a/internal/worker/task_executor.go b/internal/worker/task_executor.go
index c56c33f8..91cc111a 100644
--- a/internal/worker/task_executor.go
+++ b/internal/worker/task_executor.go
@@ -59,13 +59,11 @@ func (te *TaskExecutor) Run(ctx context.Context, task api.AssignedTask) error {
 	}
 
 	for _, cmd := range task.Commands {
-		select {
-		case <-ctx.Done():
+		if ctx.Err() != nil {
 			// Shutdown does not mean task failure; cleanly shutting down will hand
 			// back the task for requeueing on the Manager.
 			logger.Warn().Msg("task execution aborted due to context shutdown")
-			return nil
-		default:
+			return ctx.Err()
 		}
 
 		runErr := te.cmdRunner.Run(ctx, task.Uuid, cmd)