Index: b/dirmngr/dirmngr.c
===================================================================
--- b/dirmngr/dirmngr.c
+++ b/dirmngr/dirmngr.c
@@ -296,13 +296,6 @@
  * thread to run background network tasks.  */
 static int network_activity_seen;
 
-/* The timer tick used for housekeeping stuff.  */
-#define TIMERTICK_INTERVAL         (60)
-
-/* How oft to run the housekeeping.  */
-#define HOUSEKEEPING_INTERVAL      (600)
-
-
 /* This union is used to avoid compiler warnings in case a pointer is
    64 bit and an int 32 bit.  We store an integer in a pointer and get
    it back later (npth_getspecific et al.).  */
@@ -1746,83 +1739,6 @@
 #endif /*!HAVE_W32_SYSTEM*/
 
 
-/* Thread to do the housekeeping.  */
-static void *
-housekeeping_thread (void *arg)
-{
-  static int sentinel;
-
-  (void)arg;
-
-  if (sentinel)
-    {
-      log_info ("housekeeping is already going on\n");
-      return NULL;
-    }
-  sentinel++;
-  if (opt.verbose > 1)
-    log_info ("starting housekeeping\n");
-
-  if (opt.verbose > 1)
-    log_info ("ready with housekeeping\n");
-  sentinel--;
-  return NULL;
-
-}
-
-
-#if GPGRT_GCC_HAVE_PUSH_PRAGMA
-# pragma GCC push_options
-# pragma GCC optimize ("no-strict-overflow")
-#endif
-static int
-time_for_housekeeping_p (time_t curtime)
-{
-  static time_t last_housekeeping;
-
-  if (!last_housekeeping)
-    last_housekeeping = curtime;
-
-  if (last_housekeeping + HOUSEKEEPING_INTERVAL <= curtime
-      || last_housekeeping > curtime /*(be prepared for y2038)*/)
-    {
-      last_housekeeping = curtime;
-      return 1;
-    }
-  return 0;
-}
-#if GPGRT_GCC_HAVE_PUSH_PRAGMA
-# pragma GCC pop_options
-#endif
-
-
-/* This is the worker for the ticker.  It is called every few seconds
-   and may only do fast operations. */
-static void
-handle_tick (void)
-{
-  if (time_for_housekeeping_p (gnupg_get_time ()))
-    {
-      npth_t thread;
-      npth_attr_t tattr;
-      int err;
-
-      err = npth_attr_init (&tattr);
-      if (err)
-        log_error ("error preparing housekeeping thread: %s\n", strerror (err));
-      else
-        {
-          npth_attr_setdetachstate (&tattr, NPTH_CREATE_DETACHED);
-          err = npth_create (&thread, &tattr, housekeeping_thread, NULL);
-          if (err)
-            log_error ("error spawning housekeeping thread: %s\n",
-                       strerror (err));
-          npth_attr_destroy (&tattr);
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-
 /* Check the nonce on a new connection.  This is a NOP unless we are
    using our Unix domain socket emulation under Windows.  */
 static int
@@ -1922,9 +1838,6 @@
   gnupg_fd_t fd;
   int nfd, ret;
   fd_set fdset, read_fdset;
-  struct timespec abstime;
-  struct timespec curtime;
-  struct timespec timeout;
   int saved_errno;
 #ifdef HAVE_INOTIFY_INIT
   int my_inotify_fd;
@@ -1966,9 +1879,7 @@
 #endif /*HAVE_INOTIFY_INIT*/
 
 
-  /* Setup the fdset.  It has only one member.  This is because we use
-     pth_select instead of pth_accept to properly sync timeouts with
-     to full second.  */
+  /* Setup the fdset.  */
   FD_ZERO (&fdset);
   FD_SET (FD2INT (listen_fd), &fdset);
   nfd = FD2INT (listen_fd);
@@ -1981,9 +1892,6 @@
     }
 #endif /*HAVE_INOTIFY_INIT*/
 
-  npth_clock_gettime (&abstime);
-  abstime.tv_sec += TIMERTICK_INTERVAL;
-
   /* Main loop.  */
   for (;;)
     {
@@ -1994,31 +1902,21 @@
             break; /* ready */
 
           /* Do not accept new connections but keep on running the
-             loop to cope with the timer events.  */
+             select loop to wait for signals (e.g. SIGCHLD).  */
           FD_ZERO (&fdset);
 	}
 
       /* Take a copy of the fdset.  */
       read_fdset = fdset;
 
-      npth_clock_gettime (&curtime);
-      if (!(npth_timercmp (&curtime, &abstime, <)))
-	{
-	  /* Timeout.  */
-	  handle_tick ();
-	  npth_clock_gettime (&abstime);
-	  abstime.tv_sec += TIMERTICK_INTERVAL;
-	}
-      npth_timersub (&abstime, &curtime, &timeout);
-
 #ifndef HAVE_W32_SYSTEM
-      ret = npth_pselect (nfd+1, &read_fdset, NULL, NULL, &timeout, npth_sigev_sigmask());
+      ret = npth_pselect (nfd+1, &read_fdset, NULL, NULL, NULL, npth_sigev_sigmask());
       saved_errno = errno;
 
       while (npth_sigev_get_pending(&signo))
 	handle_signal (signo);
 #else
-      ret = npth_eselect (nfd+1, &read_fdset, NULL, NULL, &timeout, NULL, NULL);
+      ret = npth_eselect (nfd+1, &read_fdset, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
       saved_errno = errno;
 #endif
 
@@ -2032,8 +1930,7 @@
 
       if (ret <= 0)
         {
-          /* Interrupt or timeout.  Will be handled when calculating the
-             next timeout.  */
+          /* Interrupt.  Will be handled at the top of the next loop.  */
           continue;
         }