diff --git a/src/etcp.c b/src/etcp.c
index ce3daed4..29f60dc5 100644
--- a/src/etcp.c
+++ b/src/etcp.c
@@ -216,10 +216,14 @@ void etcp_connection_close(struct ETCP_CONN* etcp) {
     }
 
     // Clear links list safely
+    DEBUG_DEBUG(DEBUG_CATEGORY_ETCP, "connection_close: %s links=%p clearing_links",
+                etcp->log_name, (void*)etcp->links);
     if (etcp->links) {
         struct ETCP_LINK* link = etcp->links;
         while (link) {
             struct ETCP_LINK* next = link->next;
+            DEBUG_DEBUG(DEBUG_CATEGORY_ETCP, "connection_close: closing link=%p nat_status=%d",
+                        (void*)link, link->nat_check_status);
             etcp_link_close(link);
             link = next;
         }
diff --git a/src/route_bgp.c b/src/route_bgp.c
index 31eae0b2..f23bc080 100644
--- a/src/route_bgp.c
+++ b/src/route_bgp.c
@@ -384,8 +384,19 @@ void route_bgp_remove_conn(struct ETCP_CONN* conn) {
                (unsigned long long)conn->peer_node_id);
 
     // Cancel pending NAT checks for this connection's links
-    route_ping_cancel_for_conn(bgp, conn);
+    int link_count = 0;
     struct ETCP_LINK* lnk = conn->links;
+    while (lnk) {
+        link_count++;
+        DEBUG_DEBUG(DEBUG_CATEGORY_BGP, "remove_conn: link=%p nat_status=%d",
+                    (void*)lnk, lnk->nat_check_status);
+        lnk = lnk->next;
+    }
+    DEBUG_DEBUG(DEBUG_CATEGORY_BGP, "remove_conn: total links=%d for %s", link_count, conn->log_name);
+
+    route_ping_cancel_for_conn(bgp, conn);
+
+    lnk = conn->links;
     while (lnk) {
         if (lnk->nat_check_status == NAT_CHECK_IN_PROGRESS) {
             lnk->nat_check_status = NAT_CHECK_NONE;
diff --git a/src/route_ping.c b/src/route_ping.c
index 0bf8319e..07a60d66 100644
--- a/src/route_ping.c
+++ b/src/route_ping.c
@@ -103,12 +103,26 @@ void route_ping_handle_resp(struct ROUTE_BGP* bgp, struct ETCP_CONN* from_conn,
 
 void route_ping_cancel_for_conn(struct ROUTE_BGP* bgp, struct ETCP_CONN* conn) {
     if (!bgp || !conn) return;
-    struct route_ping_pending** cur = &bgp->ping_pending;
+
+    if (!bgp->ping_pending) {
+        DEBUG_DEBUG(DEBUG_CATEGORY_BGP, "cancel_for_conn: ping_pending is NULL for %s", conn->log_name);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    DEBUG_DEBUG(DEBUG_CATEGORY_BGP, "cancel_for_conn: checking pending for %s", conn->log_name);
+
     int cancelled = 0;
+    struct route_ping_pending** cur = &bgp->ping_pending;
     while (*cur) {
         struct route_ping_pending* p = *cur;
         struct nat_check_arg* na = (struct nat_check_arg*)p->arg;
-        if (na && na->link && na->link->conn == conn) {
+
+        DEBUG_DEBUG(DEBUG_CATEGORY_BGP, "  checking pending req_id=%016llx arg=%p na=%p link=%p link->etcp=%s",
+                    (unsigned long long)p->request_id, p->arg, na,
+                    na ? na->link : NULL,
+                    (na && na->link && na->link->etcp) ? na->link->etcp->log_name : "NULL");
+
+        if (na && na->link && na->link->etcp == conn) {
             *cur = p->next;
             if (p->timeout_timer) {
                 uasync_cancel_timeout(bgp->instance->ua, p->timeout_timer);
@@ -118,13 +132,15 @@ void route_ping_cancel_for_conn(struct ROUTE_BGP* bgp, struct ETCP_CONN* conn) {
             na->link = NULL;
             u_free(p);
             cancelled++;
+            DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_BGP, "cancel_for_conn: cancelled req_id=%016llx",
+                       (unsigned long long)p->request_id);
         } else {
             cur = &(*cur)->next;
         }
     }
-    if (cancelled > 0) {
-        DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_BGP, "Cancelled %d pending NAT checks for conn %s",
-                   cancelled, conn->log_name);
+
+    if (cancelled == 0) {
+        DEBUG_DEBUG(DEBUG_CATEGORY_BGP, "cancel_for_conn: no pending found for %s", conn->log_name);
     }
 }
 
@@ -187,6 +203,12 @@ int route_ping_send_req_addr(struct ROUTE_BGP* bgp, struct ETCP_CONN* to_conn,
     pending->next = bgp->ping_pending;
     bgp->ping_pending = pending;
 
+    struct nat_check_arg* na_dbg = (struct nat_check_arg*)arg;
+    DEBUG_DEBUG(DEBUG_CATEGORY_BGP, "pending created req_id=%016llx arg=%p link=%p link->etcp=%s",
+                (unsigned long long)pending->request_id, pending->arg,
+                na_dbg ? na_dbg->link : NULL,
+                (na_dbg && na_dbg->link && na_dbg->link->etcp) ? na_dbg->link->etcp->log_name : "NULL");
+
     pending->timeout_timer = uasync_set_timeout(bgp->instance->ua, wait_timeout_ms * 10, pending, route_ping_pending_timeout, "route_ping");
 
     DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_BGP, "request_id=%016llx ip=%s port=%u pubkey=%s",