diff --git a/salt/minion.py b/salt/minion.py
index ab3371cf45..bc34a54c70 100644
--- a/salt/minion.py
+++ b/salt/minion.py
@@ -1263,7 +1263,7 @@ class Minion(MinionBase):
         ret = yield channel.send(load, timeout=timeout)
         raise tornado.gen.Return(ret)
 
-    def _fire_master(self, data=None, tag=None, events=None, pretag=None, timeout=60, sync=True):
+    def _fire_master(self, data=None, tag=None, events=None, pretag=None, timeout=60, sync=True, timeout_handler=None):
         '''
         Fire an event on the master, or drop message if unable to send.
         '''
@@ -1282,9 +1282,10 @@ class Minion(MinionBase):
         else:
             return
 
-        def timeout_handler(*_):
-            log.info('fire_master failed: master could not be contacted. Request timed out.')
-            return True
+        if timeout_handler is None:
+            def timeout_handler(*_):
+                log.info('fire_master failed: master could not be contacted. Request timed out.')
+                return True
 
         if sync:
             try:
@@ -2216,13 +2217,15 @@ class Minion(MinionBase):
         if ping_interval > 0 and self.connected:
             def ping_master():
                 try:
-                    if not self._fire_master('ping', 'minion_ping'):
+                    def ping_timeout_handler(*_):
                         if not self.opts.get('auth_safemode', True):
                             log.error('** Master Ping failed. Attempting to restart minion**')
                             delay = self.opts.get('random_reauth_delay', 5)
                             log.info('delaying random_reauth_delay {0}s'.format(delay))
                             # regular sys.exit raises an exception -- which isn't sufficient in a thread
                             os._exit(salt.defaults.exitcodes.SALT_KEEPALIVE)
+
+                    self._fire_master('ping', 'minion_ping', sync=False, timeout_handler=ping_timeout_handler)
                 except Exception:
                     log.warning('Attempt to ping master failed.', exc_on_loglevel=logging.DEBUG)
             self.periodic_callbacks['ping'] = tornado.ioloop.PeriodicCallback(ping_master, ping_interval * 1000, io_loop=self.io_loop)
@@ -2237,7 +2240,7 @@ class Minion(MinionBase):
             except Exception:
                 log.critical('The beacon errored: ', exc_info=True)
             if beacons and self.connected:
-                self._fire_master(events=beacons)
+                self._fire_master(events=beacons, sync=False)
 
         self.periodic_callbacks['beacons'] = tornado.ioloop.PeriodicCallback(handle_beacons, loop_interval * 1000, io_loop=self.io_loop)