diff --git a/etc/shmem.conf b/etc/shmem.conf
index ecbdacd84..50d0b1665 100644
--- a/etc/shmem.conf
+++ b/etc/shmem.conf
@@ -24,8 +24,7 @@ nodes = {
 		name = "/villas1",
 		insize = 32,
 		outsize = 32,
-		cond_in = true,
-		cond_out = true,
+		polling = false,
 		sample_size = 4,
 		vectorize = 1
 	}
diff --git a/include/villas/nodes/shmem.h b/include/villas/nodes/shmem.h
index e4c5dbfe9..d94d20bda 100644
--- a/include/villas/nodes/shmem.h
+++ b/include/villas/nodes/shmem.h
@@ -24,8 +24,7 @@ struct shmem {
 	const char* name;		/**< Name of the shm object. */
 	int sample_size;		/**< Number of data entries for each sample. */
 	int insize, outsize;		/**< Size of ingoing and outgoing queue, respectively. */
-	int cond_out;			/**< Whether to use a pthread_cond_t to signal if new samples are written to outqueue. */
-	int cond_in;			/**< Whether to use a pthread_cond_t to signal if new samples are written to inqueue. */
+	int polling;			/**< Whether to use a pthread_cond_t to signal if new samples are written to outgoing queue. */
 	char **exec;			/**< External program to execute on start. */
 
 	struct memtype *manager;	/**< Manager for the shared memory region. */
diff --git a/include/villas/shmem.h b/include/villas/shmem.h
index d10149db3..7725cae4d 100644
--- a/include/villas/shmem.h
+++ b/include/villas/shmem.h
@@ -20,8 +20,7 @@ union shmem_queue {
 struct shmem_shared {
 	size_t len;		/**< Total size of the shared memory region.*/
 
-	int cond_in;		/**< Whether to use a pthread_cond_t to signal if new samples are written to inqueue. */
-	int cond_out;		/**< Whether to use a pthread_cond_t to signal if new samples are written to outqueue. */
+	int polling;		/**< Whether to use a pthread_cond_t to signal if new samples are written to incoming queue. */
 
 	union shmem_queue in;	/**< Queue for samples passed from external program to node.*/
 	union shmem_queue out;	/**< Queue for samples passed from node to external program.*/
diff --git a/lib/node.c b/lib/node.c
index 275f02eab..963be02c5 100644
--- a/lib/node.c
+++ b/lib/node.c
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ char * node_name_long(struct node *n)
 		if (n->_vt->print) {
 			struct node_type *vt = n->_vt;
 			char *name_long = vt->print(n);
-			strcatf(&n->_name_long, "%s: %s", node_name(n), name_long);
+			strcatf(&n->_name_long, "%s: vectorize=%d, %s", node_name(n), n->vectorize, name_long);
 			free(name_long);
 		}
 		else
diff --git a/lib/nodes/shmem.c b/lib/nodes/shmem.c
index ae6035c02..2d4a98161 100644
--- a/lib/nodes/shmem.c
+++ b/lib/nodes/shmem.c
@@ -30,10 +30,8 @@ int shmem_parse(struct node *n, config_setting_t *cfg)
 		shm->outsize = DEFAULT_SHMEM_QUEUESIZE;
 	if (!config_setting_lookup_int(cfg, "sample_size", &shm->sample_size))
 		cerror(cfg, "Missing sample size setting");
-	if (!config_setting_lookup_bool(cfg, "cond_out", &shm->cond_out))
-		shm->cond_out = false;
-	if (!config_setting_lookup_bool(cfg, "cond_in", &shm->cond_in))
-		shm->cond_in = false;
+	if (!config_setting_lookup_bool(cfg, "polling", &shm->polling))
+		shm->polling = false;
 
 	config_setting_t *exec_cfg = config_setting_lookup(cfg, "exec");
 	if (!exec_cfg)
@@ -86,16 +84,15 @@ int shmem_open(struct node *n)
 
 	memset(shm->shared, 0, sizeof(struct shmem_shared));
 	shm->shared->len = len;
-	shm->shared->cond_in = shm->cond_in;
-	shm->shared->cond_out = shm->cond_out;
+	shm->shared->polling = shm->polling;
 
-	ret = shm->cond_in ? queue_signalled_init(&shm->shared->in.qs, shm->insize, shm->manager)
-			   : queue_init(&shm->shared->in.q, shm->insize, shm->manager);
+	ret = shm->polling ? queue_init(&shm->shared->in.q, shm->insize, shm->manager)
+			   : queue_signalled_init(&shm->shared->in.qs, shm->insize, shm->manager);
 	if (ret)
 		error("Shared memory queue allocation failed (not enough memory?)");
 
-	ret = shm->cond_out ? queue_signalled_init(&shm->shared->out.qs, shm->outsize, shm->manager)
-			    : queue_init(&shm->shared->out.q, shm->outsize, shm->manager);
+	ret = shm->polling ? queue_init(&shm->shared->out.q, shm->outsize, shm->manager)
+			   : queue_signalled_init(&shm->shared->out.qs, shm->outsize, shm->manager);
 	if (ret)
 		error("Shared memory queue allocation failed (not enough memory?)");
 
@@ -125,7 +122,7 @@ int shmem_close(struct node *n)
 
 	atomic_store_explicit(&shm->shared->node_stopped, 1, memory_order_relaxed);
 
-	if (shm->cond_out) {
+	if (!shm->polling) {
 		pthread_mutex_lock(&shm->shared->out.qs.mt);
 		pthread_cond_broadcast(&shm->shared->out.qs.ready);
 		pthread_mutex_unlock(&shm->shared->out.qs.mt);
@@ -147,8 +144,8 @@ int shmem_read(struct node *n, struct sample *smps[], unsigned cnt)
 
 	int ret;
 
-	ret = shm->cond_in ? queue_signalled_pull_many(&shm->shared->in.qs, (void**) smps, cnt)
-			   : queue_pull_many(&shm->shared->in.q, (void**) smps, cnt);
+	ret = shm->polling ? queue_pull_many(&shm->shared->in.q, (void**) smps, cnt)
+			   : queue_signalled_pull_many(&shm->shared->in.qs, (void**) smps, cnt);
 	
 	if (ret <= 0)
 		return ret;
@@ -195,8 +192,8 @@ int shmem_write(struct node *n, struct sample *smps[], unsigned cnt)
 		return -1;
 	}
 	
-	pushed = shm->cond_out ? queue_signalled_push_many(&shm->shared->out.qs, (void**) shared_smps, avail)
-			       : queue_push_many(&shm->shared->out.q, (void**) shared_smps, avail);
+	pushed = shm->polling ? queue_push_many(&shm->shared->out.q, (void**) shared_smps, avail)
+			      : queue_signalled_push_many(&shm->shared->out.qs, (void**) shared_smps, avail);
 
 	if (pushed != avail)
 		warn("Outgoing queue overrun for node %s", node_name(n));
@@ -209,7 +206,8 @@ char * shmem_print(struct node *n)
 	struct shmem *shm = n->_vd;
 	char *buf = NULL;
 
-	strcatf(&buf, "name=%s, insize=%d, outsize=%d, sample_size=%d", shm->name, shm->insize, shm->outsize, shm->sample_size);
+	strcatf(&buf, "name=%s, insize=%d, outsize=%d, sample_size=%d, polling=%s",
+		shm->name, shm->insize, shm->outsize, shm->sample_size, shm->polling ? "yes" : "no");
 	
 	if (shm->exec) {
 		strcatf(&buf, ", exec='");
diff --git a/lib/shmem.c b/lib/shmem.c
index 3b44eb0f6..9f6401ac8 100644
--- a/lib/shmem.c
+++ b/lib/shmem.c
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ int shmem_shared_close(struct shmem_shared *shm, void *base)
 {
 	atomic_store_explicit(&shm->ext_stopped, 1, memory_order_relaxed);
 
-	if (shm->cond_in) {
+	if (!shm->polling) {
 		pthread_mutex_lock(&shm->in.qs.mt);
 		pthread_cond_broadcast(&shm->in.qs.ready);
 		pthread_mutex_unlock(&shm->in.qs.mt);
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ int shmem_shared_read(struct shmem_shared *shm, struct sample *smps[], unsigned
 {
 	int ret;
 	
-	ret = shm->cond_out ? queue_signalled_pull_many(&shm->out.qs, (void **) smps, cnt)
-			    : queue_pull_many(&shm->out.q, (void **) smps, cnt);
+	ret = shm->polling ? queue_pull_many(&shm->out.q, (void **) smps, cnt)
+			   : queue_signalled_pull_many(&shm->out.qs, (void **) smps, cnt);
 
 	if (!ret && atomic_load_explicit(&shm->node_stopped, memory_order_relaxed))
 		return -1;
@@ -111,6 +111,6 @@ int shmem_shared_write(struct shmem_shared *shm, struct sample *smps[], unsigned
 	if (ret)
 		return -1;
 
-	return shm->cond_in ? queue_signalled_push_many(&shm->in.qs, (void **) smps, cnt)
-			    : queue_push_many(&shm->in.q, (void **) smps, cnt);
+	return shm->polling ? queue_push_many(&shm->in.q, (void **) smps, cnt)
+			    : queue_signalled_push_many(&shm->in.qs, (void **) smps, cnt);
 }