diff --git a/src/types.rs b/src/types.rs
index deab6c3f..1a77c65c 100644
--- a/src/types.rs
+++ b/src/types.rs
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ impl RateLimit {
             last_tick: std::time::Instant::now(),
             timer: crate::timer::PosixTimer::new_with_signal(
                 std::time::Duration::from_secs(0),
-                std::time::Duration::from_secs(1),
+                std::time::Duration::from_millis(millis),
                 nix::sys::signal::Signal::SIGALRM,
             )
             .unwrap(),
@@ -298,16 +298,14 @@ impl RateLimit {
 
     pub fn tick(&mut self) -> bool {
         let now = std::time::Instant::now();
-        self.last_tick += self.rate;
-        if self.last_tick < now {
-            self.last_tick = now + self.rate;
-        } else if self.last_tick > now + self.millis {
+        if self.last_tick + self.rate > now {
+            self.active = false;
+        } else {
             self.timer.rearm();
+            self.last_tick = now;
             self.active = true;
-            return false;
         }
-        self.active = false;
-        true
+        self.active
     }
 
     #[inline(always)]
@@ -315,6 +313,121 @@ impl RateLimit {
         self.timer.si_value
     }
 }
+#[test]
+fn test_rate_limit() {
+    use std::sync::{Arc, Condvar, Mutex};
+    /* RateLimit sends a SIGALRM with its timer value in siginfo_t. */
+    let pair = Arc::new((Mutex::new(None), Condvar::new()));
+    let pair2 = pair.clone();
+
+    /* self-pipe trick:
+     * since we can only use signal-safe functions in the signal handler, make a pipe and
+     * write one byte to it from the handler. Counting the number of bytes in the pipe can tell
+     * us how many times the handler was called */
+    let (alarm_pipe_r, alarm_pipe_w) = nix::unistd::pipe().unwrap();
+    nix::fcntl::fcntl(
+        alarm_pipe_r,
+        nix::fcntl::FcntlArg::F_SETFL(nix::fcntl::OFlag::O_NONBLOCK),
+    )
+    .expect("Could not set pipe to NONBLOCK?");
+
+    let alarm_handler = move |info: &nix::libc::siginfo_t| {
+        let value = unsafe { info.si_value().sival_ptr as u8 };
+        let (lock, cvar) = &*pair2;
+        let mut started = lock.lock().unwrap();
+        /* set mutex to timer value */
+        *started = Some(value);
+        /* notify condvar in order to wake up the test thread */
+        cvar.notify_all();
+        nix::unistd::write(alarm_pipe_w, &[value]).expect("Could not write inside alarm handler?");
+    };
+    unsafe {
+        signal_hook_registry::register_sigaction(signal_hook::SIGALRM, alarm_handler).unwrap();
+    }
+    /* Accept at most one request per 3 milliseconds */
+    let mut rt = RateLimit::new(1, 3);
+    std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(2000));
+    let (lock, cvar) = &*pair;
+    let mut started = lock.lock().unwrap();
+    let result = cvar
+        .wait_timeout(started, std::time::Duration::from_millis(100))
+        .unwrap();
+    /* assert that the handler was called with rt's timer id */
+    assert_eq!(*result.0, Some(rt.id()));
+    drop(result);
+    drop(pair);
+
+    let mut buf = [0; 1];
+    nix::unistd::read(alarm_pipe_r, buf.as_mut()).expect("Could not read from self-pipe?");
+    /* assert that only one request per 3 milliseconds is accepted */
+    for _ in 0..5 {
+        assert!(rt.tick());
+        std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(1));
+        assert!(!rt.tick());
+        std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(1));
+        assert!(!rt.tick());
+        std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(1));
+        /* How many times was the signal handler called? We've slept for at least 3
+         * milliseconds, so it should have been called once */
+        let mut ctr = 0;
+        while nix::unistd::read(alarm_pipe_r, buf.as_mut())
+            .map(|s| s > 0)
+            .unwrap_or(false)
+        {
+            ctr += 1;
+        }
+        assert_eq!(ctr, 1);
+    }
+    /* next, test at most 100 requests per second */
+    let mut rt = RateLimit::new(100, 1000);
+    for _ in 0..5 {
+        let mut ctr = 0;
+        for _ in 0..500 {
+            if rt.tick() {
+                ctr += 1;
+            }
+            std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(2));
+        }
+        /* around 100 requests should succeed. might be 99 if in first loop, since
+         * RateLimit::new() has a delay */
+        assert!(ctr > 97 && ctr < 103);
+        /* alarm should expire in 1 second */
+        std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(1000));
+        /* How many times was the signal handler called? */
+        ctr = 0;
+        while nix::unistd::read(alarm_pipe_r, buf.as_mut())
+            .map(|s| s > 0)
+            .unwrap_or(false)
+        {
+            ctr += 1;
+        }
+        assert_eq!(ctr, 1);
+    }
+    /* next, test at most 500 requests per second */
+    let mut rt = RateLimit::new(500, 1000);
+    for _ in 0..5 {
+        let mut ctr = 0;
+        for _ in 0..500 {
+            if rt.tick() {
+                ctr += 1;
+            }
+            std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(2));
+        }
+        /* all requests should succeed.  */
+        assert!(ctr < 503 && ctr > 497);
+        /* alarm should expire in 1 second */
+        std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(1000));
+        /* How many times was the signal handler called? */
+        ctr = 0;
+        while nix::unistd::read(alarm_pipe_r, buf.as_mut())
+            .map(|s| s > 0)
+            .unwrap_or(false)
+        {
+            ctr += 1;
+        }
+        assert_eq!(ctr, 1);
+    }
+}
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub enum ContactEvent {