diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 197751bedb15d..ec5af8aca4ecf 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -6973,6 +6973,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "futures 0.3.5",
  "futures-timer 3.0.2",
  "hash-db",
+ "jsonrpc-core",
  "jsonrpc-pubsub",
  "lazy_static",
  "log",
diff --git a/bin/node/cli/src/service.rs b/bin/node/cli/src/service.rs
index cd98c26809644..f9ff096ad4b54 100644
--- a/bin/node/cli/src/service.rs
+++ b/bin/node/cli/src/service.rs
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ pub fn new_full(config: Configuration)
 }
 
 pub fn new_light_base(config: Configuration) -> Result<(
-	TaskManager, Arc<RpcHandlers>, Arc<LightClient>,
+	TaskManager, RpcHandlers, Arc<LightClient>,
 	Arc<NetworkService<Block, <Block as BlockT>::Hash>>,
 	Arc<sc_transaction_pool::LightPool<Block, LightClient, sc_network::config::OnDemand<Block>>>
 ), ServiceError> {
diff --git a/client/service/Cargo.toml b/client/service/Cargo.toml
index 3ad91dc3ea39b..6462549403b6f 100644
--- a/client/service/Cargo.toml
+++ b/client/service/Cargo.toml
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ test-helpers = []
 derive_more = "0.99.2"
 futures01 = { package = "futures", version = "0.1.29" }
 futures = { version = "0.3.4", features = ["compat"] }
-jsonrpc-pubsub = "14.2.0"
+jsonrpc-pubsub = "14.2"
+jsonrpc-core = "14.2"
 rand = "0.7.3"
 parking_lot = "0.10.0"
 lazy_static = "1.4.0"
diff --git a/client/service/src/builder.rs b/client/service/src/builder.rs
index eedc4582299d3..8ad95511f77d3 100644
--- a/client/service/src/builder.rs
+++ b/client/service/src/builder.rs
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ pub fn build_offchain_workers<TBl, TBackend, TCl>(
 /// Spawn the tasks that are required to run a node.
 pub fn spawn_tasks<TBl, TBackend, TExPool, TRpc, TCl>(
 	params: SpawnTasksParams<TBl, TCl, TExPool, TRpc, TBackend>,
-) -> Result<Arc<RpcHandlers>, Error>
+) -> Result<RpcHandlers, Error>
 	where
 		TCl: ProvideRuntimeApi<TBl> + HeaderMetadata<TBl, Error=sp_blockchain::Error> + Chain<TBl> +
 		BlockBackend<TBl> + BlockIdTo<TBl, Error=sp_blockchain::Error> + ProofProvider<TBl> +
@@ -540,7 +540,7 @@ pub fn spawn_tasks<TBl, TBackend, TExPool, TRpc, TCl>(
 	);
 	let rpc = start_rpc_servers(&config, gen_handler)?;
 	// This is used internally, so don't restrict access to unsafe RPC
-	let rpc_handlers = Arc::new(RpcHandlers(gen_handler(sc_rpc::DenyUnsafe::No)));
+	let rpc_handlers = RpcHandlers(Arc::new(gen_handler(sc_rpc::DenyUnsafe::No).into()));
 
 	// Telemetry
 	let telemetry = config.telemetry_endpoints.clone().and_then(|endpoints| {
diff --git a/client/service/src/lib.rs b/client/service/src/lib.rs
index e8d2ab8285c3c..d19b9f5ea247d 100644
--- a/client/service/src/lib.rs
+++ b/client/service/src/lib.rs
@@ -96,7 +96,8 @@ impl<T: MallocSizeOf> MallocSizeOfWasm for T {}
 impl<T> MallocSizeOfWasm for T {}
 
 /// RPC handlers that can perform RPC queries.
-pub struct RpcHandlers(sc_rpc_server::RpcHandler<sc_rpc::Metadata>);
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub struct RpcHandlers(Arc<jsonrpc_core::MetaIoHandler<sc_rpc::Metadata>>);
 
 impl RpcHandlers {
 	/// Starts an RPC query.
@@ -115,6 +116,11 @@ impl RpcHandlers {
 			.map(|res| res.expect("this should never fail"))
 			.boxed()
 	}
+
+	/// Provides access to the underlying `MetaIoHandler`
+	pub fn io_handler(&self) -> Arc<jsonrpc_core::MetaIoHandler<sc_rpc::Metadata>> {
+		self.0.clone()
+	}
 }
 
 /// Sinks to propagate network status updates.
diff --git a/client/service/src/task_manager/mod.rs b/client/service/src/task_manager/mod.rs
index 6925d27f4e5ca..88a44e1360d7f 100644
--- a/client/service/src/task_manager/mod.rs
+++ b/client/service/src/task_manager/mod.rs
@@ -336,9 +336,12 @@ impl TaskManager {
 		}
 	}
 
-	/// Set what the task manager should keep alive.
-	pub(super) fn keep_alive<T: 'static + Send + Sync>(&mut self, to_keep_alive: T) {
-		self.keep_alive = Box::new(to_keep_alive);
+	/// Set what the task manager should keep alive, can be called multiple times.
+	pub fn keep_alive<T: 'static + Send + Sync>(&mut self, to_keep_alive: T) {
+		// allows this fn to safely called multiple times.
+		use std::mem;
+		let old = mem::replace(&mut self.keep_alive, Box::new(()));
+		self.keep_alive = Box::new((to_keep_alive, old));
 	}
 
 	/// Register another TaskManager to terminate and gracefully shutdown when the parent
diff --git a/utils/browser/src/lib.rs b/utils/browser/src/lib.rs
index 718a9b9751154..ffd0a134be19e 100644
--- a/utils/browser/src/lib.rs
+++ b/utils/browser/src/lib.rs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ use wasm_bindgen::prelude::*;
 use futures::{
 	prelude::*, channel::{oneshot, mpsc}, compat::*, future::{ready, ok, select}
 };
-use std::{sync::Arc, pin::Pin};
+use std::pin::Pin;
 use sc_chain_spec::Extension;
 use libp2p_wasm_ext::{ExtTransport, ffi};
 
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ struct RpcMessage {
 }
 
 /// Create a Client object that connects to a service.
-pub fn start_client(mut task_manager: TaskManager, rpc_handlers: Arc<RpcHandlers>) -> Client {
+pub fn start_client(mut task_manager: TaskManager, rpc_handlers: RpcHandlers) -> Client {
 	// We dispatch a background task responsible for processing the service.
 	//
 	// The main action performed by the code below consists in polling the service with