diff --git a/chainntnfs/bitcoindnotify/bitcoind.go b/chainntnfs/bitcoindnotify/bitcoind.go
index 6e3981cf..452a9025 100644
--- a/chainntnfs/bitcoindnotify/bitcoind.go
+++ b/chainntnfs/bitcoindnotify/bitcoind.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-
 	// notifierType uniquely identifies this concrete implementation of the
 	// ChainNotifier interface.
 	notifierType = "bitcoind"
@@ -35,6 +34,11 @@ var (
 	// measure a spend notification when notifier is already stopped.
 	ErrChainNotifierShuttingDown = errors.New("chainntnfs: system interrupt " +
 		"while attempting to register for spend notification.")
+
+	// ErrTransactionNotFound is an error returned when we attempt to find a
+	// transaction by manually scanning the chain within a specific range
+	// but it is not found.
+	ErrTransactionNotFound = errors.New("transaction not found within range")
 )
 
 // chainUpdate encapsulates an update to the current main chain. This struct is
@@ -237,7 +241,7 @@ out:
 					b.spendNotifications[op] = make(map[uint64]*spendNotification)
 				}
 				b.spendNotifications[op][msg.spendID] = msg
-				b.chainConn.NotifySpent([]*wire.OutPoint{&op})
+
 			case *confirmationNotification:
 				chainntnfs.Log.Infof("New confirmation "+
 					"subscription: txid=%v, numconfs=%v",
@@ -654,43 +658,22 @@ func (b *BitcoindNotifier) RegisterSpendNtfn(outpoint *wire.OutPoint,
 				return nil, err
 			}
 
-		out:
-			for i := startHeight; i <= endHeight; i++ {
-				blockHash, err := b.chainConn.GetBlockHash(int64(i))
+			// In order to ensure we don't block the caller on what
+			// may be a long rescan, we'll launch a goroutine to do
+			// so in the background.
+			b.wg.Add(1)
+			go func() {
+				defer b.wg.Done()
+
+				err := b.dispatchSpendDetailsManually(
+					*outpoint, startHeight, endHeight,
+				)
 				if err != nil {
-					return nil, err
+					chainntnfs.Log.Errorf("Rescan for spend "+
+						"notification txout(%x) "+
+						"failed: %v", outpoint, err)
 				}
-				block, err := b.chainConn.GetBlock(blockHash)
-				if err != nil {
-					return nil, err
-				}
-				for _, tx := range block.Transactions {
-					for _, in := range tx.TxIn {
-						if in.PreviousOutPoint == *outpoint {
-							relTx := chain.RelevantTx{
-								TxRecord: &wtxmgr.TxRecord{
-									MsgTx:    *tx,
-									Hash:     tx.TxHash(),
-									Received: block.Header.Timestamp,
-								},
-								Block: &wtxmgr.BlockMeta{
-									Block: wtxmgr.Block{
-										Hash:   block.BlockHash(),
-										Height: i,
-									},
-									Time: block.Header.Timestamp,
-								},
-							}
-							select {
-							case <-b.quit:
-								return nil, ErrChainNotifierShuttingDown
-							case b.notificationRegistry <- relTx:
-							}
-							break out
-						}
-					}
-				}
-			}
+			}()
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -705,8 +688,9 @@ func (b *BitcoindNotifier) RegisterSpendNtfn(outpoint *wire.OutPoint,
 			// Submit spend cancellation to notification dispatcher.
 			select {
 			case b.notificationCancels <- cancel:
-				// Cancellation is being handled, drain the spend chan until it is
-				// closed before yielding to the caller.
+				// Cancellation is being handled, drain the
+				// spend chan until it is closed before yielding
+				// to the caller.
 				for {
 					select {
 					case _, ok := <-ntfn.spendChan:
@@ -723,6 +707,72 @@ func (b *BitcoindNotifier) RegisterSpendNtfn(outpoint *wire.OutPoint,
 	}, nil
 }
 
+// disaptchSpendDetailsManually attempts to manually scan the chain within the
+// given height range for a transaction that spends the given outpoint. If one
+// is found, it's spending details are sent to the notifier dispatcher, which
+// will then dispatch the notification to all of its clients.
+func (b *BitcoindNotifier) dispatchSpendDetailsManually(op wire.OutPoint,
+	startHeight, endHeight int32) error {
+
+	// Begin scanning blocks at every height to determine if the outpoint
+	// was spent.
+	for height := startHeight; height <= endHeight; height++ {
+		// Ensure we haven't been requested to shut down before
+		// processing the next height.
+		select {
+		case <-b.quit:
+			return ErrChainNotifierShuttingDown
+		default:
+		}
+
+		blockHash, err := b.chainConn.GetBlockHash(int64(height))
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		block, err := b.chainConn.GetBlock(blockHash)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		for _, tx := range block.Transactions {
+			for _, in := range tx.TxIn {
+				if in.PreviousOutPoint != op {
+					continue
+				}
+
+				// If this transaction input spends the
+				// outpoint, we'll gather the details of the
+				// spending transaction and dispatch a spend
+				// notification to our clients.
+				relTx := chain.RelevantTx{
+					TxRecord: &wtxmgr.TxRecord{
+						MsgTx:    *tx,
+						Hash:     tx.TxHash(),
+						Received: block.Header.Timestamp,
+					},
+					Block: &wtxmgr.BlockMeta{
+						Block: wtxmgr.Block{
+							Hash:   *blockHash,
+							Height: height,
+						},
+						Time: block.Header.Timestamp,
+					},
+				}
+
+				select {
+				case b.notificationRegistry <- relTx:
+				case <-b.quit:
+					return ErrChainNotifierShuttingDown
+				}
+
+				return nil
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ErrTransactionNotFound
+}
+
 // confirmationNotification represents a client's intent to receive a
 // notification once the target txid reaches numConfirmations confirmations.
 type confirmationNotification struct {