diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 10f5790..16c69c5 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -5,9 +5,10 @@ go 1.21.0
 require (
 	github.com/fasthttp/websocket v1.5.3
 	github.com/fiatjaf/eventstore v0.1.0
-	github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.26.0
+	github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.27.0
 	github.com/puzpuzpuz/xsync/v2 v2.5.1
 	github.com/rs/cors v1.7.0
+	github.com/sebest/xff v0.0.0-20210106013422-671bd2870b3a
 	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20230425010034-47ecfdc1ba53
 )
 
@@ -44,7 +45,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.17 // indirect
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 // indirect
 	github.com/savsgio/gotils v0.0.0-20230208104028-c358bd845dee // indirect
-	github.com/sebest/xff v0.0.0-20210106013422-671bd2870b3a // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/gjson v1.14.4 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/match v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/tidwall/pretty v1.2.0 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index c5181a2..90ef5b2 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -90,8 +90,8 @@ github.com/mailru/easyjson v0.7.7/go.mod h1:xzfreul335JAWq5oZzymOObrkdz5UnU4kGfJ
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.6/go.mod h1:NyWgC/yNuGj7Q9rpYnZvas74GogHl5/Z4A/KQRfk6bU=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.17 h1:mCRHCLDUBXgpKAqIKsaAaAsrAlbkeomtRFKXh2L6YIM=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.17/go.mod h1:2eHXhiwb8IkHr+BDWZGa96P6+rkvnG63S2DGjv9HUNg=
-github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.26.0 h1:Tofbs9i8DD5iEKIhLlWFO7kfWpvmUG16fEyW30MzHVQ=
-github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.26.0/go.mod h1:bkffJI+x914sPQWum9ZRUn66D7NpDnAoWo1yICvj3/0=
+github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.27.0 h1:h6JmMMmfNcAORTL2kk/K3+U6Mju6rk/IjcHA/PMeOc8=
+github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr v0.27.0/go.mod h1:bkffJI+x914sPQWum9ZRUn66D7NpDnAoWo1yICvj3/0=
 github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 h1:FEBLx1zS214owpjy7qsBeixbURkuhQAwrK5UwLGTwt4=
 github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1/go.mod h1:bwawxfHBFNV+L2hUp1rHADufV3IMtnDRdf1r5NINEl0=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
diff --git a/handlers.go b/handlers.go
index 11036a2..5e3bbf9 100644
--- a/handlers.go
+++ b/handlers.go
@@ -145,9 +145,10 @@ func (rl *Relay) HandleWebsocket(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 					if err == nil {
 						ok = true
 					} else {
-						reason = nostr.NormalizeOKMessage(err.Error(), "blocked")
-						if isAuthRequired(reason) {
+						if strings.HasPrefix(reason, "auth-required:") {
 							ws.WriteJSON(nostr.AuthEnvelope{Challenge: &ws.Challenge})
+						} else {
+							reason = nostr.NormalizeOKMessage(err.Error(), "blocked")
 						}
 					}
 					ws.WriteJSON(nostr.OKEnvelope{EventID: env.Event.ID, OK: ok, Reason: reason})
@@ -173,9 +174,11 @@ func (rl *Relay) HandleWebsocket(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 						err := rl.handleRequest(reqCtx, env.SubscriptionID, &eose, ws, filter)
 						if err != nil {
 							// fail everything if any filter is rejected
-							reason := nostr.NormalizeOKMessage(err.Error(), "blocked")
-							if isAuthRequired(reason) {
+							reason := err.Error()
+							if strings.HasPrefix(reason, "auth-required:") {
 								ws.WriteJSON(nostr.AuthEnvelope{Challenge: &ws.Challenge})
+							} else {
+								reason = nostr.NormalizeOKMessage(reason, "blocked")
 							}
 							ws.WriteJSON(nostr.ClosedEnvelope{SubscriptionID: env.SubscriptionID, Reason: reason})
 							cancelReqCtx(fmt.Errorf("filter rejected"))
diff --git a/helpers.go b/helpers.go
index 163ae17..5e08da8 100644
--- a/helpers.go
+++ b/helpers.go
@@ -27,11 +27,6 @@ func isOlder(previous, next *nostr.Event) bool {
 		(previous.CreatedAt == next.CreatedAt && previous.ID > next.ID)
 }
 
-func isAuthRequired(msg string) bool {
-	idx := strings.IndexByte(msg, ':')
-	return msg[0:idx] == "auth-required"
-}
-
 func getServiceBaseURL(r *http.Request) string {
 	host := r.Header.Get("X-Forwarded-Host")
 	if host == "" {
diff --git a/utils.go b/utils.go
index 453511b..b2dbe84 100644
--- a/utils.go
+++ b/utils.go
@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@ func GetIP(ctx context.Context) string {
 }
 
 func GetOpenSubscriptions(ctx context.Context) []nostr.Filter {
-	if listeners, ok := listeners.Load(GetConnection(ctx)); ok {
+	if subs, ok := listeners.Load(GetConnection(ctx)); ok {
 		res := make([]nostr.Filter, 0, listeners.Size()*2)
-		listeners.Range(func(_ string, listener *Listener) bool {
-			res = append(res, listener.filters...)
+		subs.Range(func(_ string, sub *Listener) bool {
+			res = append(res, sub.filters...)
 			return true
 		})
 		return res