diff --git a/SocketIO.m b/SocketIO.m
index 61ff67a..3d0d077 100755
--- a/SocketIO.m
+++ b/SocketIO.m
@@ -404,11 +404,8 @@ - (void) removeAcknowledgeForKey:(NSString *)key
 
 - (void) onTimeout 
 {
-    if (_timeout) {
-        dispatch_source_cancel(_timeout);
-        _timeout = NULL;
-    }
-    
+    [ self cleanupHeartbeatTimeout ];
+ 
     DEBUGLOG(@"Timed out waiting for heartbeat.");
     [self onDisconnect:[NSError errorWithDomain:SocketIOError
                                            code:SocketIOHeartbeatTimeout
@@ -418,11 +415,8 @@ - (void) onTimeout
 - (void) setTimeout 
 {
     DEBUGLOG(@"start/reset timeout");
-    if (_timeout) {
-        dispatch_source_cancel(_timeout);
-        _timeout = NULL;
-    }
-    
+    [ self cleanupHeartbeatTimeout ];
+ 
     _timeout = dispatch_source_create(DISPATCH_SOURCE_TYPE_TIMER,
                                       0,
                                       0,
@@ -619,11 +613,8 @@ - (void) onDisconnect:(NSError *)error
     [_queue removeAllObjects];
     
     // Kill the heartbeat timer
-    if (_timeout) {
-        dispatch_source_cancel(_timeout);
-        _timeout = NULL;
-    }
-    
+    [ self cleanupHeartbeatTimeout ];
+ 
     // Disconnect the websocket, just in case
     if (_transport != nil) {
         // clear websocket's delegate - otherwise crashes
@@ -819,6 +810,15 @@ - (void) connection:(NSURLConnection *)connection
 }
 #endif
 
+# pragma mark - Cleanup Heartbeat Timer
+-(void) cleanupHeartbeatTimeout
+{
+    if (_timeout) {
+        dispatch_source_cancel(_timeout);
+        dispatch_release(_timeout);
+        _timeout = NULL;
+    }
+}
 
 # pragma mark -
 
@@ -834,11 +834,8 @@ - (void) dealloc
     _transport.delegate = nil;
     _transport = nil;
     
-    if (_timeout) {
-        dispatch_source_cancel(_timeout);
-        _timeout = NULL;
-    }
-    
+   [ self cleanupHeartbeatTimeout ];
+ 
     _queue = nil;
     _acks = nil;
 }