diff --git a/lurklite/core.py b/lurklite/core.py
index 1154d7c..3c11368 100644
--- a/lurklite/core.py
+++ b/lurklite/core.py
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 # lurklite core
 #
 
-import os, miniirc, re, sys, time
+import concurrent.futures, os, miniirc, re, sys, time
 import lurklite.tempcmds as tempcmds
 static_cmds = None
 
 # The version
-miniirc.version = f'lurklite v0.4.19 (powered by {miniirc.version})'
+miniirc.version = f'lurklite v0.4.20 (powered by {miniirc.version})'
 
 # Throw errors
 class BotError(Exception):
@@ -209,6 +209,8 @@ def __init__(self, config, *, debug=False):
         self.disable_yay  = self._conf_bool('core', 'disable_yay')
         self.disable_ouch = self._conf_bool('core', 'disable_ouch')
 
+        thread_pool = concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(32)
+
         # Get the IRC servers to connect to
         _servers = {}
         kwargs   = None
@@ -238,7 +240,7 @@ def __init__(self, config, *, debug=False):
                 # Create the IRC object
                 irc = miniirc.IRC(c['ip'], int(c['port']), c['nick'],
                     c['channels'].split(','), auto_connect=False,
-                    debug=debug, **kwargs)
+                    debug=debug, executor=thread_pool, **kwargs)
                 _servers[section] = irc
 
                 # Add the ignores list
@@ -265,7 +267,7 @@ def __init__(self, config, *, debug=False):
 
             # Create the Discord object
             irc = miniirc_discord.Discord(c['token'], 0,
-                c.get('nick', '???'), debug=debug, **kw)
+                c.get('nick', '???'), debug=debug, executor=thread_pool, **kw)
             _servers['Discord'] = irc
 
             # Add the ignores list
@@ -284,7 +286,5 @@ def __init__(self, config, *, debug=False):
                       f'{exc.__class__.__name__}: {exc}')
         irc.debug('Finished connecting to servers!')
 
-# miniirc update reminder™
-assert miniirc.ver >= (1,4,0), 'lurklite requires miniirc >= v1.4.0!'
-if miniirc.ver < (1,6,2):
-    print('You are not running the latest version of miniirc™.')
+# Ensure miniirc isn't outdated
+assert miniirc.ver >= (1,7,0), 'lurklite requires miniirc >= v1.7.0!'
diff --git a/lurklite/tempcmds.py b/lurklite/tempcmds.py
index b8cc59e..3ae12a4 100644
--- a/lurklite/tempcmds.py
+++ b/lurklite/tempcmds.py
@@ -301,7 +301,8 @@ def _command_url(irc, hostmask, channel, code, args):
     code = code.format(*[web_quote(a) for a in args],
         args = web_quote(' '.join(args)), nick = web_quote(hostmask[0]))
 
-    data = urllib.request.urlopen(code).read().decode('utf-8', 'replace')
+    with urllib.request.urlopen(code, timeout=5) as res:
+        data = res.read().decode('utf-8', 'replace')
 
     while data[-1:] in '\r\n':
         data = data[:-1]
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b50be2d..499feb7 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name        = 'lurklite',
-    version     = '0.4.19',
+    version     = '0.4.20',
     packages    = ['lurklite'],
     author      = 'luk3yx',
     description = 'A miniirc-based IRC bot.',
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
     long_description              = desc,
     long_description_content_type = 'text/markdown',
-    install_requires              = ['miniirc>=1.4.0', 'msgpack'],
+    install_requires              = ['miniirc>=1.7.0', 'msgpack'],
     python_requires               = '>=3.6',
 
     classifiers = [