diff --git a/send_stream.go b/send_stream.go
index 624e1ff47..5ffd6efc6 100644
--- a/send_stream.go
+++ b/send_stream.go
@@ -41,8 +41,10 @@ type sendStream struct {
 	finSent           bool // set when a STREAM_FRAME with FIN bit has b
 
 	dataForWriting []byte
-	writeChan      chan struct{}
-	writeDeadline  time.Time
+
+	writeChan     chan struct{}
+	deadline      time.Time
+	deadlineTimer *time.Timer // initialized by SetReadDeadline()
 
 	flowController flowcontrol.StreamFlowController
 
@@ -86,7 +88,7 @@ func (s *sendStream) Write(p []byte) (int, error) {
 	if s.closeForShutdownErr != nil {
 		return 0, s.closeForShutdownErr
 	}
-	if !s.writeDeadline.IsZero() && !time.Now().Before(s.writeDeadline) {
+	if !s.deadline.IsZero() && !time.Now().Before(s.deadline) {
 		return 0, errDeadline
 	}
 	if len(p) == 0 {
@@ -101,8 +103,7 @@ func (s *sendStream) Write(p []byte) (int, error) {
 	var err error
 	for {
 		bytesWritten = len(p) - len(s.dataForWriting)
-		deadline := s.writeDeadline
-		if !deadline.IsZero() && !time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		if !s.deadline.IsZero() && !time.Now().Before(s.deadline) {
 			s.dataForWriting = nil
 			err = errDeadline
 			break
@@ -112,12 +113,12 @@ func (s *sendStream) Write(p []byte) (int, error) {
 		}
 
 		s.mutex.Unlock()
-		if deadline.IsZero() {
+		if s.deadline.IsZero() {
 			<-s.writeChan
 		} else {
 			select {
 			case <-s.writeChan:
-			case <-time.After(time.Until(deadline)):
+			case <-s.deadlineTimer.C:
 			}
 		}
 		s.mutex.Lock()
@@ -298,12 +299,22 @@ func (s *sendStream) Context() context.Context {
 
 func (s *sendStream) SetWriteDeadline(t time.Time) error {
 	s.mutex.Lock()
-	oldDeadline := s.writeDeadline
-	s.writeDeadline = t
-	s.mutex.Unlock()
-	if t.Before(oldDeadline) {
+	defer s.mutex.Unlock()
+	s.deadline = t
+	if s.deadline.IsZero() { // skip if there's no deadline to set
 		s.signalWrite()
+		return nil
 	}
+	// Lazily initialize the deadline timer.
+	if s.deadlineTimer == nil {
+		s.deadlineTimer = time.NewTimer(time.Until(t))
+		return nil
+	}
+	// reset the timer to the new deadline
+	if !s.deadlineTimer.Stop() {
+		<-s.deadlineTimer.C
+	}
+	s.deadlineTimer.Reset(time.Until(t))
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/send_stream_test.go b/send_stream_test.go
index 76aabda11..f6d304374 100644
--- a/send_stream_test.go
+++ b/send_stream_test.go
@@ -255,6 +255,21 @@ var _ = Describe("Send Stream", func() {
 				Expect(time.Now()).To(BeTemporally("~", deadline, scaleDuration(20*time.Millisecond)))
 			})
 
+			It("unblocks when the deadline is changed to the past", func() {
+				mockSender.EXPECT().onHasStreamData(streamID)
+				str.SetWriteDeadline(time.Now().Add(time.Hour))
+				done := make(chan struct{})
+				go func() {
+					defer GinkgoRecover()
+					_, err := str.Write([]byte("foobar"))
+					Expect(err).To(MatchError(errDeadline))
+					close(done)
+				}()
+				Consistently(done).ShouldNot(BeClosed())
+				str.SetWriteDeadline(time.Now().Add(-time.Hour))
+				Eventually(done).Should(BeClosed())
+			})
+
 			It("returns the number of bytes written, when the deadline expires", func() {
 				mockSender.EXPECT().onHasStreamData(streamID)
 				mockFC.EXPECT().SendWindowSize().Return(protocol.ByteCount(10000)).AnyTimes()