diff --git a/src/ServiceStack.Redis/RedisNativeClient_Utils.cs b/src/ServiceStack.Redis/RedisNativeClient_Utils.cs
index 1d17dd25..fc06af58 100644
--- a/src/ServiceStack.Redis/RedisNativeClient_Utils.cs
+++ b/src/ServiceStack.Redis/RedisNativeClient_Utils.cs
@@ -566,7 +566,7 @@ internal void Activate(bool newClient=false)
             {
                 //Drain any existing buffers 
                 ResetSendBuffer();
-                bufferedReader.Reset();
+                bufferedReader?.Reset();
                 if (socket?.Available > 0)
                 {
                     logDebug($"Draining existing socket of {socket.Available} bytes");
diff --git a/tests/ServiceStack.Redis.Tests/CacheClientTests.Async.cs b/tests/ServiceStack.Redis.Tests/CacheClientTests.Async.cs
index 032d2edb..e63437a0 100644
--- a/tests/ServiceStack.Redis.Tests/CacheClientTests.Async.cs
+++ b/tests/ServiceStack.Redis.Tests/CacheClientTests.Async.cs
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 namespace ServiceStack.Redis.Tests
 {
     public class CacheClientTestsAsync
-        : RedisClientTestsBaseAsync
     {
         IRedisClientsManagerAsync redisManager = new RedisManagerPool(TestConfig.SingleHost);