diff --git a/lib/netlink/nlsocket.rb b/lib/netlink/nlsocket.rb
index 6a9ea30..ced2b3b 100644
--- a/lib/netlink/nlsocket.rb
+++ b/lib/netlink/nlsocket.rb
@@ -10,6 +10,13 @@ module Netlink
     ERRNO_MAP[klass::Errno] = klass
   end
 
+  # Raise an Errno exception if the given rc is not NOERROR
+  def self.check_error(rc)
+    if -rc != Errno::NOERROR::Errno
+      raise ERRNO_MAP[-rc] || "Netlink Error: #{msg.inspect}"
+    end
+  end
+  
   # NLSocket provides low-level sending and receiving of messages across
   # a netlink socket, adding headers to sent messages and parsing
   # received messages.
@@ -38,6 +45,7 @@ module Netlink
     attr_accessor :seq		# the last sequence number used
     attr_accessor :pid		# default pid to include in message headers
     attr_accessor :timeout	# default timeout when receiving message
+    attr_accessor :junk_handler # proc to log or handle unexpected messages
 
     # Create a new Netlink socket. Pass in chosen protocol:
     #   :protocol => Netlink::NETLINK_ARPD
@@ -137,18 +145,19 @@ module Netlink
     end
 
     # Loop receiving responses until a DONE message is received (or you
-    # break out of the loop, or a timeout exception occurs).
+    # break out of the loop, or a timeout exception occurs). Checks the
+    # message type and pid/seq.
     #
     # Yields Netlink::Message objects, or if no block is given, returns an
     # array of those objects.
     #
     # (Compare: rtnl_dump_filter_l in lib/libnetlink.c)
-    def receive_until_done(expected_type=nil, timeout=@timeout, &blk) #:yields: msg
+    def receive_until_done(expected_type, timeout=@timeout, &blk) #:yields: msg
       res = []
       blk ||= lambda { |obj| res << obj }
       receive_responses(true, timeout) do |type,msg|
         return res if type == NLMSG_DONE
-        if expected_type && type != expected_type
+        if type != expected_type
           false
         else
           blk.call(msg) if msg
@@ -156,11 +165,12 @@ module Netlink
       end
     end
 
-    # Loop infinitely receiving responses and yielding message objects
-    # of the given type.
-    def receive_stream(expected_type=nil)
+    # This is the entry point for protocols which yield an infinite stream
+    # of messages (e.g. firewall, ulog). There is no timeout, and
+    # the pid/seq are not checked.
+    def receive_stream(expected_type) #:yields: msg
       receive_responses(false, nil) do |type, msg|
-        if expected_type && type != expected_type
+        if type != expected_type
           false
         else
           yield msg
@@ -168,19 +178,19 @@ module Netlink
       end
     end
 
-    # This is the main loop for receiving responses. It optionally checks
-    # the pid/seq of received messages, and discards those which don't match.
-    # Raises an exception on NLMSG_ERROR.
+    # This is the main loop for receiving responses, yielding the type and
+    # message object for each received message. It optionally checks the pid/seq
+    # and discards those which don't match. If the block returns 'false' then
+    # they are also logged as junk.
     #
-    # Matching messages are yielded to the block. If the block returns
-    # false then they are treated as junk.
-    def receive_responses(check_pid_seq=false, timeout=nil)
+    # Raises an exception on NLMSG_ERROR (other than Errno::NOERROR), or if
+    # no packet received within the specified timeout. Pass nil for infinite
+    # timeout.
+    def receive_responses(check_pid_seq, timeout=@timeout)
       loop do
-        receive_response(timeout) do |type, flags, seq, pid, msg|
+        parse_yield(recvmsg(timeout)) do |type, flags, seq, pid, msg|
           if !check_pid_seq || (pid == @pid && seq == @seq)
-            if type == NLMSG_ERROR && -msg.error != Errno::NOERROR::Errno
-              raise ERRNO_MAP[-msg.error] || "Netlink Error: #{msg.inspect}"
-            end
+            self.class.check_error(msg.error) if type == NLMSG_ERROR
             res = yield type, msg
             next unless res == false
           end
@@ -203,17 +213,6 @@ module Netlink
       end
     end
 
-    # Receive one datagram from kernel. Yield header fields plus
-    # Netlink::Message objects (maybe multiple times if the datagram
-    # includes multiple netlink messages). Raise an exception if no
-    # datagram received within the specified or default timeout period;
-    # pass nil for infinite timeout.
-    #
-    #   receive_response { |type, flags, seq, pid, msg| p msg }
-    def receive_response(timeout=@timeout, &blk) # :yields: type, flags, seq, pid, Message
-      parse_yield(recvmsg(timeout), &blk)
-    end
-
     # Parse netlink packet in a string buffer. Yield header fields plus
     # a Netlink::Message-derived object for each message. For unknown message
     # types it will yield a raw String, or nil if there is no message body.