diff --git a/relay.go b/relay.go
index b3cf377..0c8776a 100644
--- a/relay.go
+++ b/relay.go
@@ -585,12 +585,12 @@ func (r *Relay) Subscribe(ctx context.Context, filter Filter, opts SubscriptionO
 	sub := r.PrepareSubscription(ctx, filter, opts)
 
 	if r.conn == nil {
-		sub.unsub(ErrNotConnected)
+		sub.cancel(ErrNotConnected)
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("not connected to %s", r.URL)
 	}
 
 	if err := sub.Fire(); err != nil {
-		sub.unsub(ErrFireFailed)
+		sub.cancel(ErrFireFailed)
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("couldn't subscribe to %v at %s: %w", filter, r.URL, err)
 	}
 
@@ -655,7 +655,24 @@ func (r *Relay) PrepareSubscription(ctx context.Context, filter Filter, opts Sub
 	}
 
 	// start handling events, eose, unsub etc:
-	go sub.start()
+	go func() {
+		<-sub.Context.Done()
+
+		// mark subscription as closed and send a CLOSE to the relay (naïve sync.Once implementation)
+		if sub.live.CompareAndSwap(true, false) {
+			closeMsg := CloseEnvelope(sub.id)
+			closeb, _ := (&closeMsg).MarshalJSON()
+			sub.Relay.Write(closeb)
+		}
+
+		// remove subscription from our map
+		sub.Relay.Subscriptions.Delete(sub.counter)
+
+		// do this so we don't have the possibility of closing the Events channel and then trying to send to it
+		sub.mu.Lock()
+		close(sub.Events)
+		sub.mu.Unlock()
+	}()
 
 	return sub
 }
@@ -711,7 +728,7 @@ func (r *Relay) countInternal(ctx context.Context, filter Filter, opts Subscript
 		return CountEnvelope{}, err
 	}
 
-	defer sub.unsub(errors.New("countInternal() ended"))
+	defer sub.cancel(errors.New("countInternal() ended"))
 
 	if _, ok := ctx.Deadline(); !ok {
 		// if no timeout is set, force it to 7 seconds
diff --git a/subscription.go b/subscription.go
index 13c179c..768d5c9 100644
--- a/subscription.go
+++ b/subscription.go
@@ -75,18 +75,6 @@ type SubscriptionOptions struct {
 	MaxWaitForEOSE time.Duration
 }
 
-func (sub *Subscription) start() {
-	<-sub.Context.Done()
-
-	// the subscription ends once the context is canceled (if not already)
-	sub.unsub(errors.New("context done on start()")) // this will set sub.live to false
-
-	// do this so we don't have the possibility of closing the Events channel and then trying to send to it
-	sub.mu.Lock()
-	close(sub.Events)
-	sub.mu.Unlock()
-}
-
 // GetID returns the subscription ID.
 func (sub *Subscription) GetID() string { return sub.id }
 
@@ -133,37 +121,14 @@ func (sub *Subscription) handleClosed(reason string) {
 	go func() {
 		sub.ClosedReason <- reason
 		sub.live.Store(false) // set this so we don't send an unnecessary CLOSE to the relay
-		sub.unsub(fmt.Errorf("CLOSED received: %s", reason))
+		sub.cancel(fmt.Errorf("CLOSED received: %s", reason))
 	}()
 }
 
 // Unsub closes the subscription, sending "CLOSE" to relay as in NIP-01.
 // Unsub() also closes the channel sub.Events and makes a new one.
 func (sub *Subscription) Unsub() {
-	sub.unsub(errors.New("Unsub() called"))
-}
-
-// unsub is the internal implementation of Unsub.
-func (sub *Subscription) unsub(err error) {
-	// cancel the context (if it's not canceled already)
-	sub.cancel(err)
-
-	// mark subscription as closed and send a CLOSE to the relay (naïve sync.Once implementation)
-	if sub.live.CompareAndSwap(true, false) {
-		sub.Close()
-	}
-
-	// remove subscription from our map
-	sub.Relay.Subscriptions.Delete(sub.counter)
-}
-
-// Close just sends a CLOSE message. You probably want Unsub() instead.
-func (sub *Subscription) Close() {
-	if sub.Relay.IsConnected() {
-		closeMsg := CloseEnvelope(sub.id)
-		closeb, _ := (&closeMsg).MarshalJSON()
-		sub.Relay.Write(closeb)
-	}
+	sub.cancel(errors.New("Unsub() called"))
 }
 
 // Sub sets sub.Filters and then calls sub.Fire(ctx).