diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index b02841020cc..ae507dbe194 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3713,9 +3713,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "once_cell"
-version = "1.10.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "87f3e037eac156d1775da914196f0f37741a274155e34a0b7e427c35d2a2ecb9"
+version = "1.11.0"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "oorandom"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index c8b538b5523..2cf518e3d91 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ version = "0.13.0"
 exclude = [ "neard" ]
 
 [patch.crates-io]
+once_cell = {path="/home/matklad/p/once_cell"}
 
 # Note that "bench" profile inherits from "release" profile and
 # "test" profile inherits from "dev" profile.
diff --git a/chain/network/src/test_utils.rs b/chain/network/src/test_utils.rs
index 259c6812c45..4940807fa3d 100644
--- a/chain/network/src/test_utils.rs
+++ b/chain/network/src/test_utils.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ use near_primitives::hash::hash;
 use near_primitives::network::PeerId;
 use near_primitives::types::EpochId;
 use near_primitives::utils::index_to_bytes;
-use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
+use once_cell::sync::{Lazy, OnceCell};
 use rand::{thread_rng, RngCore};
 use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet, VecDeque};
 use std::net::TcpListener;
@@ -387,39 +387,27 @@ pub mod test_features {
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Default)]
+pub struct NetworkRecipient {
+    peer_manager_recipient: OnceCell<Recipient<PeerManagerMessageRequest>>,
+}
+
 impl NetworkRecipient {
     pub fn set_recipient(&self, peer_manager_recipient: Recipient<PeerManagerMessageRequest>) {
-        *self.peer_manager_recipient.write().unwrap() = Some(peer_manager_recipient);
+        self.peer_manager_recipient.set(peer_manager_recipient);
     }
 }
 
-#[derive(Default)]
-pub struct NetworkRecipient {
-    peer_manager_recipient: RwLock<Option<Recipient<PeerManagerMessageRequest>>>,
-}
-
 impl PeerManagerAdapter for NetworkRecipient {
     fn send(
         &self,
         msg: PeerManagerMessageRequest,
     ) -> BoxFuture<'static, Result<PeerManagerMessageResponse, MailboxError>> {
-        self.peer_manager_recipient
-            .read()
-            .unwrap()
-            .as_ref()
-            .expect("Recipient must be set")
-            .send(msg)
-            .boxed()
+        self.peer_manager_recipient.wait().send(msg).boxed()
     }
 
     fn do_send(&self, msg: PeerManagerMessageRequest) {
-        let _ = self
-            .peer_manager_recipient
-            .read()
-            .unwrap()
-            .as_ref()
-            .expect("Recipient must be set")
-            .do_send(msg);
+        let _ = self.peer_manager_recipient.wait().do_send(msg);
     }
 }