diff --git a/chain/src/chain.rs b/chain/src/chain.rs
index d8c7713d8..676c69d92 100644
--- a/chain/src/chain.rs
+++ b/chain/src/chain.rs
@@ -1216,21 +1216,23 @@ impl Chain {
 			.map_err(|e| ErrorKind::StoreErr(e, "chain tail".to_owned()).into())
 	}
 
-	/// Tip (head) of the header chain if read lock can be acquired right now.
-	pub fn try_header_head(&self) -> Result<Option<Tip>, Error> {
-		match self.header_pmmr.try_read() {
-			Some(lock) => {
-				let hash = lock.head_hash()?;
-				let header = self.store.get_block_header(&hash)?;
-				Ok(Some(Tip::from_header(&header)))
-			}
-			None => Ok(None),
-		}
+	/// Tip (head) of the header chain if read lock can be acquired reasonably quickly.
+	/// Used by the TUI when updating stats to avoid locking the TUI up.
+	pub fn try_header_head(&self, timeout: Duration) -> Result<Option<Tip>, Error> {
+		self.header_pmmr
+			.try_read_for(timeout)
+			.map(|ref pmmr| self.read_header_head(pmmr).map(|x| Some(x)))
+			.unwrap_or(Ok(None))
 	}
 
 	/// Tip (head) of the header chain.
 	pub fn header_head(&self) -> Result<Tip, Error> {
-		let hash = self.header_pmmr.read().head_hash()?;
+		self.read_header_head(&self.header_pmmr.read())
+	}
+
+	/// Read head from the provided PMMR handle.
+	fn read_header_head(&self, pmmr: &txhashset::PMMRHandle<BlockHeader>) -> Result<Tip, Error> {
+		let hash = pmmr.head_hash()?;
 		let header = self.store.get_block_header(&hash)?;
 		Ok(Tip::from_header(&header))
 	}
diff --git a/servers/src/common/stats.rs b/servers/src/common/stats.rs
index ba44e04fb..2ca1743f7 100644
--- a/servers/src/common/stats.rs
+++ b/servers/src/common/stats.rs
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ pub struct ServerStats {
 	/// Difficulty calculation statistics
 	pub diff_stats: DiffStats,
 	/// Transaction pool statistics
-	pub tx_stats: TxStats,
+	pub tx_stats: Option<TxStats>,
 	/// Disk usage in GB
 	pub disk_usage_gb: String,
 }
diff --git a/servers/src/grin/server.rs b/servers/src/grin/server.rs
index c623a76fd..68b1c760d 100644
--- a/servers/src/grin/server.rs
+++ b/servers/src/grin/server.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ use std::path::Path;
 use std::sync::{mpsc, Arc};
 use std::{
 	thread::{self, JoinHandle},
-	time,
+	time::{self, Duration},
 };
 
 use fs2::FileExt;
@@ -480,23 +480,16 @@ impl Server {
 			.map(|p| PeerStats::from_peer(&p))
 			.collect();
 
-		let tx_stats = {
-			let pool = self.tx_pool.try_read();
-			match pool {
-				Some(pool) => TxStats {
-					tx_pool_size: pool.txpool.size(),
-					tx_pool_kernels: pool.txpool.kernel_count(),
-					stem_pool_size: pool.stempool.size(),
-					stem_pool_kernels: pool.stempool.kernel_count(),
-				},
-				None => TxStats {
-					tx_pool_size: 0,
-					tx_pool_kernels: 0,
-					stem_pool_size: 0,
-					stem_pool_kernels: 0,
-				},
-			}
-		};
+		// Updating TUI stats should not block any other processing so only attempt to
+		// acquire various read locks with a timeout.
+		let read_timeout = Duration::from_millis(500);
+
+		let tx_stats = self.tx_pool.try_read_for(read_timeout).map(|pool| TxStats {
+			tx_pool_size: pool.txpool.size(),
+			tx_pool_kernels: pool.txpool.kernel_count(),
+			stem_pool_size: pool.stempool.size(),
+			stem_pool_kernels: pool.stempool.kernel_count(),
+		});
 
 		let head = self.chain.head_header()?;
 		let head_stats = ChainStats {
@@ -506,16 +499,15 @@ impl Server {
 			total_difficulty: head.total_difficulty(),
 		};
 
-		let header_stats = match self.chain.try_header_head()? {
-			Some(tip) => {
-				let header = self.chain.get_block_header(&tip.hash())?;
+		let header_stats = match self.chain.try_header_head(read_timeout)? {
+			Some(head) => self.chain.get_block_header(&head.hash()).map(|header| {
 				Some(ChainStats {
 					latest_timestamp: header.timestamp,
 					height: header.height,
 					last_block_h: header.prev_hash,
 					total_difficulty: header.total_difficulty(),
 				})
-			}
+			})?,
 			_ => None,
 		};
 
diff --git a/src/bin/tui/status.rs b/src/bin/tui/status.rs
index 90e1bb414..3e6e3099a 100644
--- a/src/bin/tui/status.rs
+++ b/src/bin/tui/status.rs
@@ -284,18 +284,20 @@ impl TUIStatusListener for TUIStatusView {
 				t.set_content(header_stats.latest_timestamp.to_string());
 			});
 		}
-		c.call_on_id("tx_pool_size", |t: &mut TextView| {
-			t.set_content(stats.tx_stats.tx_pool_size.to_string());
-		});
-		c.call_on_id("stem_pool_size", |t: &mut TextView| {
-			t.set_content(stats.tx_stats.stem_pool_size.to_string());
-		});
-		c.call_on_id("tx_pool_kernels", |t: &mut TextView| {
-			t.set_content(stats.tx_stats.tx_pool_kernels.to_string());
-		});
-		c.call_on_id("stem_pool_kernels", |t: &mut TextView| {
-			t.set_content(stats.tx_stats.stem_pool_kernels.to_string());
-		});
+		if let Some(tx_stats) = &stats.tx_stats {
+			c.call_on_id("tx_pool_size", |t: &mut TextView| {
+				t.set_content(tx_stats.tx_pool_size.to_string());
+			});
+			c.call_on_id("stem_pool_size", |t: &mut TextView| {
+				t.set_content(tx_stats.stem_pool_size.to_string());
+			});
+			c.call_on_id("tx_pool_kernels", |t: &mut TextView| {
+				t.set_content(tx_stats.tx_pool_kernels.to_string());
+			});
+			c.call_on_id("stem_pool_kernels", |t: &mut TextView| {
+				t.set_content(tx_stats.stem_pool_kernels.to_string());
+			});
+		}
 	}
 }