diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 12e3d14..0ae1b01 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@ go 1.13
 require (
 	github.com/go-redis/redis v6.15.6+incompatible
 	github.com/go-redis/redis/v7 v7.0.0-beta.4
+	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.3.1
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.1.1
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index a2a817c..7177735 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ github.com/go-redis/redis v6.15.6+incompatible/go.mod h1:NAIEuMOZ/fxfXJIrKDQDz8w
 github.com/go-redis/redis/v7 v7.0.0-beta.4 h1:p6z7Pde69EGRWvlC++y8aFcaWegyrKHzOBGo0zUACTQ=
 github.com/go-redis/redis/v7 v7.0.0-beta.4/go.mod h1:xhhSbUMTsleRPur+Vgx9sUHtyN33bdjxY+9/0n9Ig8s=
 github.com/golang/protobuf v1.2.0/go.mod h1:6lQm79b+lXiMfvg/cZm0SGofjICqVBUtrP5yJMmIC1U=
+github.com/google/go-cmp v0.3.1 h1:Xye71clBPdm5HgqGwUkwhbynsUJZhDbS20FvLhQ2izg=
+github.com/google/go-cmp v0.3.1/go.mod h1:8QqcDgzrUqlUb/G2PQTWiueGozuR1884gddMywk6iLU=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.1.1 h1:Gkbcsh/GbpXz7lPftLA3P6TYMwjCLYm83jiFQZF/3gY=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.1.1/go.mod h1:TIyPZe4MgqvfeYDBFedMoGGpEw/LqOeaOT+nhxU+yHo=
 github.com/hpcloud/tail v1.0.0/go.mod h1:ab1qPbhIpdTxEkNHXyeSf5vhxWSCs/tWer42PpOxQnU=
diff --git a/manager.go b/manager.go
index dad8bee..1071320 100644
--- a/manager.go
+++ b/manager.go
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ func (m *manager) start() {
 func (m *manager) processTasks() {
 	// pull message out of the queue and process it
 	// TODO(hibiken): sort the list of queues in order of priority
+	// NOTE: BLPOP needs to timeout in case a new queue is added.
 	msg, err := m.rdb.bpop(5*time.Second, m.rdb.listQueues()...)
 	if err != nil {
 		switch err {
diff --git a/rdb.go b/rdb.go
index d2371bf..4492a0e 100644
--- a/rdb.go
+++ b/rdb.go
@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ func (r *rdb) push(msg *taskMessage) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// bpop blocks until there is a taskMessage available to be processed.
-// bpop returns immediately if there are already taskMessages waiting to be processed.
+// bpop blocks until there is a taskMessage available to be processed,
+// returns immediately if there are already tasks waiting to be processed.
 func (r *rdb) bpop(timeout time.Duration, keys ...string) (*taskMessage, error) {
-	res, err := r.client.BLPop(5*time.Second, keys...).Result() // NOTE: BLPOP needs to time out because if case a new queue is added.
+	res, err := r.client.BLPop(timeout, keys...).Result()
 	if err != nil {
 		if err != redis.Nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("command BLPOP %v %v failed: %v",
@@ -150,6 +150,12 @@ func (r *rdb) kill(msg *taskMessage) error {
 }
 
 // listQueues returns the list of all queues.
+// NOTE: Add default to the slice if empty because
+// BLPOP will error out if empty list is passed.
 func (r *rdb) listQueues() []string {
-	return r.client.SMembers(allQueues).Val()
+	queues := r.client.SMembers(allQueues).Val()
+	if len(queues) == 0 {
+		queues = append(queues, queuePrefix+"default")
+	}
+	return queues
 }
diff --git a/rdb_test.go b/rdb_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..410e5a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rdb_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+package asynq
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/go-redis/redis/v7"
+	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
+)
+
+var client *redis.Client
+
+// setup connects to a redis database and flush all keys
+// before returning an instance of rdb.
+func setup() *rdb {
+	client = redis.NewClient(&redis.Options{
+		Addr: "localhost:6379",
+		DB:   15, // use database 15 to separate from other applications
+	})
+	// Start each test with a clean slate.
+	if err := client.FlushDB().Err(); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return newRDB(client)
+}
+
+func TestPush(t *testing.T) {
+	r := setup()
+	msg := &taskMessage{
+		Type:  "sendEmail",
+		Queue: "default",
+		Retry: 10,
+	}
+
+	err := r.push(msg)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("could not push message to queue: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	res := client.LRange("asynq:queues:default", 0, -1).Val()
+	if len(res) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("len(res) = %d, want %d", len(res), 1)
+	}
+	bytes, err := json.Marshal(msg)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("json.Marshal(msg) failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if res[0] != string(bytes) {
+		t.Fatalf("res[0] = %s, want %s", res[0], string(bytes))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBPopImmediateReturn(t *testing.T) {
+	r := setup()
+	msg := &taskMessage{
+		Type:  "GenerateCSVExport",
+		Queue: "csv",
+		Retry: 10,
+	}
+	r.push(msg)
+
+	res, err := r.bpop(time.Second, "asynq:queues:csv")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("r.bpop() failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !cmp.Equal(res, msg) {
+		t.Errorf("cmp.Equal(res, msg) = %t, want %t", false, true)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBPopTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+	r := setup()
+
+	_, err := r.bpop(time.Second, "asynq:queues:default")
+	if err != errQueuePopTimeout {
+		t.Errorf("err = %v, want %v", err, errQueuePopTimeout)
+	}
+}