diff --git a/consensus.go b/consensus.go
index 6d399d43..73bfd13f 100644
--- a/consensus.go
+++ b/consensus.go
@@ -272,9 +272,17 @@ func (p *Pbft) runCycle(ctx context.Context) {
 
 func (p *Pbft) setSequence(sequence uint64) {
 	p.state.view = &View{
-		Round:    0,
 		Sequence: sequence,
 	}
+	p.setRound(0)
+}
+
+func (p *Pbft) setRound(round uint64) {
+	p.state.view.Round = round
+
+	// reset current timeout and start a new one
+	timeout := p.roundTimeout(round)
+	p.state.timeout = time.NewTimer(timeout)
 }
 
 // runAcceptState runs the Accept state loop
@@ -355,13 +363,11 @@ func (p *Pbft) runAcceptState(ctx context.Context) { // start new round
 	// we are NOT a proposer for this height/round. Then, we have to wait
 	// for a pre-prepare message from the proposer
 
-	timeout := p.roundTimeout(p.state.view.Round)
-
 	// We only need to wait here for one type of message, the Prepare message from the proposer.
 	// However, since we can receive bad Prepare messages we have to wait (or timeout) until
 	// we get the message from the correct proposer.
 	for p.getState() == AcceptState {
-		msg, ok := p.getNextMessage(span, timeout)
+		msg, ok := p.getNextMessage(span)
 		if !ok {
 			return
 		}
@@ -426,12 +432,10 @@ func (p *Pbft) runValidateState(ctx context.Context) { // start new round
 		}
 	}
 
-	timeout := p.roundTimeout(p.state.view.Round)
-
 	for p.getState() == ValidateState {
 		_, span := p.tracer.Start(ctx, "ValidateState")
 
-		msg, ok := p.getNextMessage(span, timeout)
+		msg, ok := p.getNextMessage(span)
 		if !ok {
 			// closing
 			span.End()
@@ -446,7 +450,7 @@ func (p *Pbft) runValidateState(ctx context.Context) { // start new round
 
 		// the message must have our local hash
 		if !bytes.Equal(msg.Hash, p.state.proposal.Hash) {
-			p.logger.Print(fmt.Sprintf("[WARN]: incorrect hash in %s message", msg.Type.String()))
+			p.logger.Printf(fmt.Sprintf("[WARN]: incorrect hash in %s message", msg.Type.String()))
 			continue
 		}
 
@@ -566,7 +570,7 @@ func (p *Pbft) runRoundChangeState(ctx context.Context) {
 	sendRoundChange := func(round uint64) {
 		p.logger.Printf("[DEBUG] local round change: round=%d", round)
 		// set the new round
-		p.state.view.Round = round
+		p.setRound(round)
 		// clean the round
 		p.state.cleanRound(round)
 		// send the round change message
@@ -614,12 +618,10 @@ func (p *Pbft) runRoundChangeState(ctx context.Context) {
 	}
 
 	// create a timer for the round change
-	timeout := p.roundTimeout(p.state.view.Round)
-
 	for p.getState() == RoundChangeState {
 		_, span := p.tracer.Start(ctx, "RoundChangeState")
 
-		msg, ok := p.getNextMessage(span, timeout)
+		msg, ok := p.getNextMessage(span)
 		if !ok {
 			// closing
 			span.End()
@@ -627,9 +629,10 @@ func (p *Pbft) runRoundChangeState(ctx context.Context) {
 		}
 		if msg == nil {
 			p.logger.Print("[DEBUG] round change timeout")
+
+			// checkTimeout will either produce a sync event and exit
+			// or restart the timeout
 			checkTimeout()
-			// update the timeout duration
-			timeout = p.roundTimeout(p.state.view.Round)
 			span.End()
 			continue
 		}
@@ -645,7 +648,6 @@ func (p *Pbft) runRoundChangeState(ctx context.Context) {
 			// weak certificate, try to catch up if our round number is smaller
 			if p.state.view.Round < msg.View.Round {
 				// update timer
-				timeout = p.roundTimeout(p.state.view.Round)
 				sendRoundChange(msg.View.Round)
 			}
 		}
@@ -757,8 +759,7 @@ func (p *Pbft) GetProposal() *Proposal {
 }
 
 // getNextMessage reads a new message from the message queue
-func (p *Pbft) getNextMessage(span trace.Span, timeout time.Duration) (*MessageReq, bool) {
-	timeoutCh := time.After(timeout)
+func (p *Pbft) getNextMessage(span trace.Span) (*MessageReq, bool) {
 	for {
 		msg, discards := p.notifier.ReadNextMessage(p)
 		// send the discard messages
@@ -778,7 +779,7 @@ func (p *Pbft) getNextMessage(span trace.Span, timeout time.Duration) (*MessageR
 		// wait until there is a new message or
 		// someone closes the stopCh (i.e. timeout for round change)
 		select {
-		case <-timeoutCh:
+		case <-p.state.timeout.C:
 			span.AddEvent("Timeout")
 			p.notifier.HandleTimeout(p.validator.NodeID(), stateToMsg(p.getState()), &View{
 				Round:    p.state.view.Round,
diff --git a/state.go b/state.go
index b02f768c..1517ee7a 100644
--- a/state.go
+++ b/state.go
@@ -210,13 +210,20 @@ type currentState struct {
 	// Locked signals whether the proposal is locked
 	locked bool
 
+	// timeout tracks the time left for this round
+	timeout *time.Timer
+
 	// Describes whether there has been an error during the computation
 	err error
 }
 
 // newState creates a new state with reset round messages
 func newState() *currentState {
-	c := &currentState{}
+	c := &currentState{
+		// this is a default value, it will get reset
+		// at every iteration
+		timeout: time.NewTimer(0),
+	}
 	c.resetRoundMsgs()
 
 	return c