diff --git a/p2p/peer.go b/p2p/peer.go
index 2e876d11..e2027114 100644
--- a/p2p/peer.go
+++ b/p2p/peer.go
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ func createMConnection(conn net.Conn, p *peer, reactorsByCh map[byte]Reactor, ch
 	onReceive := func(chID byte, msgBytes []byte) {
 		reactor := reactorsByCh[chID]
 		if reactor == nil {
-			cmn.PanicSanity(cmn.Fmt("Unknown channel %X", chID))
+			onPeerError(p, fmt.Errorf("Unknown channel %X", chID))
 		}
 		reactor.Receive(chID, p, msgBytes)
 	}