diff --git a/irc/channel.go b/irc/channel.go
index 8114803c..d41cc5a8 100644
--- a/irc/channel.go
+++ b/irc/channel.go
@@ -185,10 +185,10 @@ func (channel *Channel) Nick() string {
 }
 
 // <mode> <mode params>
-func (channel *Channel) ModeString(client *Client) (str string) {
-	channel.membersMutex.RLock()
+func (channel *Channel) modeStringNoLock(client *Client) (str string) {
+	// RLock()
 	isMember := client.flags[Operator] || channel.members.Has(client)
-	channel.membersMutex.RUnlock()
+	// RUnlock()
 	showKey := isMember && (channel.key != "")
 	showUserLimit := channel.userLimit > 0
 
@@ -436,10 +436,9 @@ func (channel *Channel) applyModeFlag(client *Client, mode ChannelMode,
 	return false
 }
 
-func (channel *Channel) applyModeMember(client *Client, mode ChannelMode,
+func (channel *Channel) applyModeMemberNoMutex(client *Client, mode ChannelMode,
 	op ModeOp, nick string) *ChannelModeChange {
-	channel.membersMutex.Lock()
-	defer channel.membersMutex.Unlock()
+	// requires Lock()
 
 	if nick == "" {
 		//TODO(dan): shouldn't this be handled before it reaches this function?
diff --git a/irc/modes.go b/irc/modes.go
index ce8a1ed0..4983d8db 100644
--- a/irc/modes.go
+++ b/irc/modes.go
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ func cmodeHandler(server *Server, client *Client, msg ircmsg.IrcMessage) bool {
 		// so we only output one warning for each list type when full
 		listFullWarned := make(map[ChannelMode]bool)
 
-		clientIsOp := channel.ClientIsAtLeast(client, ChannelOperator)
+		clientIsOp := channel.clientIsAtLeastNoMutex(client, ChannelOperator)
 		var alreadySentPrivError bool
 
 		for _, change := range changes {
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ func cmodeHandler(server *Server, client *Client, msg ircmsg.IrcMessage) bool {
 					}
 				}
 
-				change := channel.applyModeMember(client, change.mode, change.op, change.arg)
+				change := channel.applyModeMemberNoMutex(client, change.mode, change.op, change.arg)
 				if change != nil {
 					applied = append(applied, change)
 				}
@@ -561,7 +561,7 @@ func cmodeHandler(server *Server, client *Client, msg ircmsg.IrcMessage) bool {
 		}
 	} else {
 		//TODO(dan): we should just make ModeString return a slice here
-		args := append([]string{client.nick, channel.name}, strings.Split(channel.ModeString(client), " ")...)
+		args := append([]string{client.nick, channel.name}, strings.Split(channel.modeStringNoLock(client), " ")...)
 		client.Send(nil, client.nickMaskString, RPL_CHANNELMODEIS, args...)
 		client.Send(nil, client.nickMaskString, RPL_CHANNELCREATED, client.nick, channel.name, strconv.FormatInt(channel.createdTime.Unix(), 10))
 	}