diff --git a/src/broadcast.jl b/src/broadcast.jl
index 667f19f..be6a4ac 100644
--- a/src/broadcast.jl
+++ b/src/broadcast.jl
@@ -67,8 +67,8 @@ end
     # This will turn local AbstractArrays into DArrays
     dbc = bcdistribute(bc)
 
-    asyncmap(procs(dest)) do p
-        remotecall_fetch(p) do
+    @sync for p in procs(dest)
+        @async remotecall_wait(p) do
             # get the indices for the localpart
             lpidx = localpartindex(dest)
             @assert lpidx != 0
@@ -76,9 +76,9 @@ end
             # Note: creates copies of the argument
             lbc = bclocal(dbc, dest.indices[lpidx])
             copyto!(localpart(dest), lbc)
-            return nothing
         end
     end
+
     return dest
 end
 
diff --git a/src/core.jl b/src/core.jl
index 5192f22..302ba70 100644
--- a/src/core.jl
+++ b/src/core.jl
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ function close_by_id(id, pids)
     global refs
     @sync begin
         for p in pids
-            @async remotecall_fetch(release_localpart, p, id)
+            @async remotecall_wait(release_localpart, p, id)
         end
         if !(myid() in pids)
             release_localpart(id)
diff --git a/src/darray.jl b/src/darray.jl
index d3868ad..e517bcb 100644
--- a/src/darray.jl
+++ b/src/darray.jl
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ function DArray(id, init, dims, pids, idxs, cuts)
 
     if length(unique(localtypes)) != 1
         @sync for p in pids
-            @async remotecall_fetch(release_localpart, p, id)
+            @async remotecall_wait(release_localpart, p, id)
         end
         throw(ErrorException("Constructed localparts have different `eltype`: $(localtypes)"))
     end
@@ -147,8 +147,8 @@ function ddata(;T::Type=Any, init::Function=I->nothing, pids=workers(), data::Ve
         end
     end
 
-    @sync for i = 1:length(pids)
-        @async remotecall_fetch(construct_localparts, pids[i], init, id, (npids,), pids, idxs, cuts; T=T, A=T)
+    @sync for p in pids
+        @async remotecall_wait(construct_localparts, p, init, id, (npids,), pids, idxs, cuts; T=T, A=T)
     end
 
     if myid() in pids
@@ -161,9 +161,10 @@ function ddata(;T::Type=Any, init::Function=I->nothing, pids=workers(), data::Ve
 end
 
 function gather(d::DArray{T,1,T}) where T
-    a=Array{T}(undef, length(procs(d)))
-    @sync for (i,p) in enumerate(procs(d))
-        @async a[i] = remotecall_fetch(localpart, p, d)
+    pids = procs(d)
+    a = Vector{T}(undef, length(pids))
+    asyncmap!(a, pids) do p
+        remotecall_fetch(localpart, p, d)
     end
     a
 end
@@ -195,12 +196,9 @@ function DArray(refs)
     dimdist = size(refs)
     id = next_did()
 
-    npids = [r.where for r in refs]
     nsizes = Array{Tuple}(undef, dimdist)
-    @sync for i in 1:length(refs)
-        let i=i
-            @async nsizes[i] = remotecall_fetch(sz_localpart_ref, npids[i], refs[i], id)
-        end
+    asyncmap!(nsizes, refs) do r
+        remotecall_fetch(sz_localpart_ref, r.where, r, id)
     end
 
     nindices = Array{NTuple{length(dimdist),UnitRange{Int}}}(undef, dimdist...)
@@ -223,7 +221,7 @@ function DArray(refs)
     ncuts = Array{Int,1}[pushfirst!(sort(unique(lastidxs[x,:])), 1) for x in 1:length(dimdist)]
     ndims = tuple([sort(unique(lastidxs[x,:]))[end]-1 for x in 1:length(dimdist)]...)
 
-    DArray(id, refs, ndims, reshape(npids, dimdist), nindices, ncuts)
+    DArray(id, refs, ndims, map(r -> r.where, refs), nindices, ncuts)
 end
 
 macro DArray(ex0::Expr)
@@ -673,8 +671,8 @@ Base.copy(d::SubDArray) = copyto!(similar(d), d)
 Base.copy(d::SubDArray{<:Any,2}) = copyto!(similar(d), d)
 
 function Base.copyto!(dest::SubOrDArray, src::AbstractArray)
-    asyncmap(procs(dest)) do p
-        remotecall_fetch(p) do
+    @sync for p in procs(dest)
+        @async remotecall_wait(p) do
             ldest = localpart(dest)
             copyto!(ldest, view(src, localindices(dest)...))
         end
@@ -684,8 +682,8 @@ end
 
 function Base.deepcopy(src::DArray)
     dest = similar(src)
-    asyncmap(procs(src)) do p
-        remotecall_fetch(p) do
+    @sync for p in procs(src)
+        @async remotecall_wait(p) do
             dest[:L] = deepcopy(src[:L])
         end
     end
@@ -835,14 +833,15 @@ end
 
 function Base.fill!(A::DArray, x)
     @sync for p in procs(A)
-        @async remotecall_fetch((A,x)->(fill!(localpart(A), x); nothing), p, A, x)
+        @async remotecall_wait((A,x)->fill!(localpart(A), x), p, A, x)
     end
     return A
 end
 
 function Random.rand!(A::DArray, ::Type{T}) where T
-    asyncmap(procs(A)) do p
-        remotecall_wait((A, T)->rand!(localpart(A), T), p, A, T)
+    @sync for p in procs(A)
+        @async remotecall_wait((A, T)->rand!(localpart(A), T), p, A, T)
     end
+    return A
 end
 
diff --git a/src/linalg.jl b/src/linalg.jl
index 049e1f0..ccabad2 100644
--- a/src/linalg.jl
+++ b/src/linalg.jl
@@ -25,10 +25,9 @@ function LinearAlgebra.axpy!(α, x::DArray, y::DArray)
     if length(x) != length(y)
         throw(DimensionMismatch("vectors must have same length"))
     end
-    asyncmap(procs(y)) do p
-        @async remotecall_fetch(p) do
+    @sync for p in procs(y)
+        @async remotecall_wait(p) do
             axpy!(α, localpart(x), localpart(y))
-            return nothing
         end
     end
     return y
@@ -39,26 +38,22 @@ function LinearAlgebra.dot(x::DVector, y::DVector)
         throw(DimensionMismatch(""))
     end
 
-    results=Any[]
-    asyncmap(procs(x)) do p
-            push!(results, remotecall_fetch((x, y) -> dot(localpart(x), makelocal(y, localindices(x)...)), p, x, y))
+    results = asyncmap(procs(x)) do p
+        remotecall_fetch((x, y) -> dot(localpart(x), makelocal(y, localindices(x)...)), p, x, y)
     end
     return reduce(+, results)
 end
 
 function LinearAlgebra.norm(x::DArray, p::Real = 2)
-    results = []
-    @sync begin
-        for pp in procs(x)
-            @async push!(results, remotecall_fetch(() -> norm(localpart(x), p), pp))
-        end
+    results = asyncmap(procs(x)) do pp
+        remotecall_fetch(() -> norm(localpart(x), p), pp)
     end
     return norm(results, p)
 end
 
 function LinearAlgebra.rmul!(A::DArray, x::Number)
     @sync for p in procs(A)
-        @async remotecall_fetch((A,x)->(rmul!(localpart(A), x); nothing), p, A, x)
+        @async remotecall_wait((A,x)->rmul!(localpart(A), x), p, A, x)
     end
     return A
 end
@@ -104,13 +99,12 @@ function LinearAlgebra.mul!(y::DVector, A::DMatrix, x::AbstractVector, α::Numbe
     # Scale y if necessary
     if β != one(β)
         asyncmap(procs(y)) do p
-            remotecall_fetch(p) do
+            remotecall_wait(p) do
                 if !iszero(β)
                     rmul!(localpart(y), β)
                 else
                     fill!(localpart(y), 0)
                 end
-                return nothing
             end
         end
     end
@@ -120,7 +114,7 @@ function LinearAlgebra.mul!(y::DVector, A::DMatrix, x::AbstractVector, α::Numbe
         p = y.pids[i]
         for j = 1:size(R, 2)
             rij = R[i,j]
-            @async remotecall_fetch(() -> (add!(localpart(y), fetch(rij), α); nothing), p)
+            @async remotecall_wait(() -> add!(localpart(y), fetch(rij), α), p)
         end
     end
 
@@ -150,14 +144,13 @@ function LinearAlgebra.mul!(y::DVector, adjA::Adjoint{<:Number,<:DMatrix}, x::Ab
 
     # Scale y if necessary
     if β != one(β)
-        asyncmap(procs(y)) do p
-            remotecall_fetch(p) do
+        @sync for p in procs(y)
+            @async remotecall_wait(p) do
                 if !iszero(β)
                     rmul!(localpart(y), β)
                 else
                     fill!(localpart(y), 0)
                 end
-                return nothing
             end
         end
     end
@@ -167,7 +160,7 @@ function LinearAlgebra.mul!(y::DVector, adjA::Adjoint{<:Number,<:DMatrix}, x::Ab
         p = y.pids[i]
         for j = 1:size(R, 2)
             rij = R[i,j]
-            @async remotecall_fetch(() -> (add!(localpart(y), fetch(rij), α); nothing), p)
+            @async remotecall_wait(() -> add!(localpart(y), fetch(rij), α), p)
         end
     end
     return y
@@ -238,10 +231,10 @@ function _matmatmul!(C::DMatrix, A::DMatrix, B::AbstractMatrix, α::Number, β::
     # Scale C if necessary
     if β != one(β)
         @sync for p in C.pids
-            if β != zero(β)
-                @async remotecall_fetch(() -> (rmul!(localpart(C), β); nothing), p)
+            if iszero(β)
+                @async remotecall_wait(() -> fill!(localpart(C), 0), p)
             else
-                @async remotecall_fetch(() -> (fill!(localpart(C), 0); nothing), p)
+                @async remotecall_wait(() -> rmul!(localpart(C), β), p)
             end
         end
     end
@@ -252,7 +245,7 @@ function _matmatmul!(C::DMatrix, A::DMatrix, B::AbstractMatrix, α::Number, β::
             p = C.pids[i,k]
             for j = 1:size(R, 2)
                 rijk = R[i,j,k]
-                @async remotecall_fetch(d -> (add!(localpart(d), fetch(rijk), α); nothing), p, C)
+                @async remotecall_wait(d -> add!(localpart(d), fetch(rijk), α), p, C)
             end
         end
     end
diff --git a/src/mapreduce.jl b/src/mapreduce.jl
index a02a54a..9bbe1f0 100644
--- a/src/mapreduce.jl
+++ b/src/mapreduce.jl
@@ -3,10 +3,9 @@
 Base.map(f, d0::DArray, ds::AbstractArray...) = broadcast(f, d0, ds...)
 
 function Base.map!(f::F, dest::DArray, src::DArray{<:Any,<:Any,A}) where {F,A}
-    asyncmap(procs(dest)) do p
-        remotecall_fetch(p) do
+    @sync for p in procs(dest)
+        @async remotecall_wait(p) do
             map!(f, localpart(dest), makelocal(src, localindices(dest)...))
-            return nothing
         end
     end
     return dest
@@ -38,8 +37,8 @@ function Base.reducedim_initarray(A::DArray, region, v0, ::Type{R}) where {R}
     # Store reduction on lowest pids
     pids = A.pids[ntuple(i -> i in region ? (1:1) : (:), ndims(A))...]
     chunks = similar(pids, Future)
-    @sync for i in eachindex(pids)
-        @async chunks[i...] = remotecall_wait(() -> Base.reducedim_initarray(localpart(A), region, v0, R), pids[i...])
+    asyncmap!(chunks, pids) do p
+        remotecall_wait(() -> Base.reducedim_initarray(localpart(A), region, v0, R), p)
     end
     return DArray(chunks)
 end
@@ -64,13 +63,12 @@ end
 # has been run on each localpart with mapreducedim_within. Eventually, we might
 # want to write mapreducedim_between! as a binary reduction.
 function mapreducedim_between!(f, op, R::DArray, A::DArray, region)
-    asyncmap(procs(R)) do p
-        remotecall_fetch(p, f, op, R, A, region) do f, op, R, A, region
+    @sync for p in procs(R)
+        @async remotecall_wait(p, f, op, R, A, region) do f, op, R, A, region
             localind = [r for r = localindices(A)]
             localind[[region...]] = [1:n for n = size(A)[[region...]]]
             B = convert(Array, A[localind...])
             Base.mapreducedim!(f, op, localpart(R), B)
-            nothing
         end
     end
     return R
@@ -163,8 +161,8 @@ function map_localparts(f::Callable, A::Array, DA::DArray)
 end
 
 function map_localparts!(f::Callable, d::DArray)
-    asyncmap(procs(d)) do p
-        remotecall_fetch((f,d)->(f(localpart(d)); nothing), p, f, d)
+    @sync for p in procs(d)
+        @async remotecall_wait((f,d)->f(localpart(d)), p, f, d)
     end
     return d
 end
diff --git a/src/spmd.jl b/src/spmd.jl
index 014f2a0..472c0b9 100644
--- a/src/spmd.jl
+++ b/src/spmd.jl
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module SPMD
 
-using Distributed: RemoteChannel, myid, procs, remote_do, remotecall_fetch
+using Distributed: RemoteChannel, myid, procs, remote_do, remotecall_fetch, remotecall_wait
 using ..DistributedArrays: DistributedArrays, gather, next_did
 
 export sendto, recvfrom, recvfrom_any, barrier, bcast, scatter, gather
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ function spmd(f, args...; pids=procs(), context=nothing)
         ctxt_id = context.id
     end
     @sync for p in pids
-        @async remotecall_fetch(spmd_local, p, f_noarg, ctxt_id, clear_ctxt)
+        @async remotecall_wait(spmd_local, p, f_noarg, ctxt_id, clear_ctxt)
     end
     nothing
 end
diff --git a/test/darray.jl b/test/darray.jl
index 507bfda..c4a2365 100644
--- a/test/darray.jl
+++ b/test/darray.jl
@@ -358,7 +358,8 @@ unpack(ex) = ex
     A = randn(100,100)
     DA = distribute(A)
 
-    # sum either throws an ArgumentError or a CompositeException of ArgumentErrors
+    # sum either throws an ArgumentError, a CompositeException of ArgumentErrors,
+    # or a RemoteException wrapping an ArgumentError
     try
         sum(DA, dims=-1)
     catch err
@@ -369,6 +370,9 @@ unpack(ex) = ex
                 orig_err = unpack(excep)
                 @test isa(orig_err, ArgumentError)
             end
+        elseif isa(err, RemoteException)
+            @test err.captured isa CapturedException
+            @test err.captured.ex isa ArgumentError
         else
             @test isa(err, ArgumentError)
         end
@@ -383,6 +387,9 @@ unpack(ex) = ex
                 orig_err = unpack(excep)
                 @test isa(orig_err, ArgumentError)
             end
+        elseif isa(err, RemoteException)
+            @test err.captured isa CapturedException
+            @test err.captured.ex isa ArgumentError
         else
             @test isa(err, ArgumentError)
         end
@@ -1039,6 +1046,8 @@ check_leaks()
     close(d)
 end
 
+check_leaks()
+
 @testset "rand!" begin
     d = dzeros(30, 30)
     rand!(d)
@@ -1048,6 +1057,16 @@ end
 
 check_leaks()
 
+@testset "fill!" begin
+    d = dzeros(30, 30)
+    fill!(d, 3.14)
+    @test all(x-> x == 3.14, d)
+
+    close(d)
+end
+
+check_leaks()
+
 d_closeall()
 
 @testset "test for any leaks" begin