use IO::Socket qw( ); my $sel = new IO::Select( $sock1, $sock2 ); while ( my @ready = $sel->can_read() ) { foreach my $sock (@ready) { if ($sock == $sock1) { ...do someththing... if (...done...) { $sel->remove( $sock1 ); } } elsif ($sock == $sock2) { ...do someththing... if (...done...) { $sel->remove( $sock2 ); } } } }