diff --git a/salt/transport/zeromq.py b/salt/transport/zeromq.py
index e178e239e7..3a9197ce87 100644
--- a/salt/transport/zeromq.py
+++ b/salt/transport/zeromq.py
@@ -250,15 +250,23 @@ class ZeroMQPubChannel(salt.transport.mixins.auth.AESPubClientMixin, salt.transp
                              'message from master').format(len(messages_len)))
         return self._decode_payload(payload)
 
+    @property
+    def stream(self):
+        if not hasattr(self, '_stream'):
+            self._stream = zmq.eventloop.zmqstream.ZMQStream(self._socket, io_loop=self.io_loop)
+        return self._stream
+
     def on_recv(self, callback):
         '''
         Register a callback for recieved messages (that we didn't initiate)
         '''
-        self.stream = zmq.eventloop.zmqstream.ZMQStream(self._socket, io_loop=self.io_loop)
+        if callback is None:
+            return self.stream.on_recv(None)
+
         def wrap_callback(messages):
             payload = self._decode_messages(messages)
             callback(payload)
-        self.stream.on_recv(wrap_callback)
+        return self.stream.on_recv(wrap_callback)
 
     def recv(self, timeout=0):
         '''