diff --git a/async_producer.go b/async_producer.go
index aced886315..4e870a7c65 100644
--- a/async_producer.go
+++ b/async_producer.go
@@ -271,10 +271,7 @@ func (p *asyncProducer) partitionDispatcher(topic string, input <-chan *Producer
 
 	for msg := range input {
 		if msg.retries == 0 {
-			err := breaker.Run(func() error {
-				return p.assignPartition(partitioner, msg)
-			})
-			if err != nil {
+			if err := p.assignPartition(breaker, partitioner, msg); err != nil {
 				p.returnError(msg, err)
 				continue
 			}
@@ -636,15 +633,17 @@ func (p *asyncProducer) shutdown() {
 	close(p.successes)
 }
 
-func (p *asyncProducer) assignPartition(partitioner Partitioner, msg *ProducerMessage) error {
+func (p *asyncProducer) assignPartition(breaker *breaker.Breaker, partitioner Partitioner, msg *ProducerMessage) error {
 	var partitions []int32
-	var err error
 
-	if partitioner.RequiresConsistency() {
-		partitions, err = p.client.Partitions(msg.Topic)
-	} else {
-		partitions, err = p.client.WritablePartitions(msg.Topic)
-	}
+	err := breaker.Run(func() (err error) {
+		if partitioner.RequiresConsistency() {
+			partitions, err = p.client.Partitions(msg.Topic)
+		} else {
+			partitions, err = p.client.WritablePartitions(msg.Topic)
+		}
+		return
+	})
 
 	if err != nil {
 		return err