diff --git a/telethon/client/auth.py b/telethon/client/auth.py
index bbb1d57b..b4a1c74a 100644
--- a/telethon/client/auth.py
+++ b/telethon/client/auth.py
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ class AuthMethods(MessageParseMethods, UserMethods):
 
         self._self_input_peer = None
         self._state.pts = -1
-        await self.disconnect()
+        self.disconnect()
         self.session.delete()
         return True
 
@@ -489,14 +489,9 @@ class AuthMethods(MessageParseMethods, UserMethods):
         return await self.start()
 
     def __exit__(self, *args):
-        if self._loop.is_running():
-            self._loop.create_task(self.disconnect())
-        elif inspect.iscoroutinefunction(self.disconnect):
-            self._loop.run_until_complete(self.disconnect())
-        else:
-            self.disconnect()
+        self.disconnect()
 
     async def __aexit__(self, *args):
-        await self.disconnect()
+        self.disconnect()
 
     # endregion
diff --git a/telethon/client/downloads.py b/telethon/client/downloads.py
index 4c0e1239..b7faff41 100644
--- a/telethon/client/downloads.py
+++ b/telethon/client/downloads.py
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ class DownloadMethods(UserMethods):
             if exported:
                 await self._return_exported_sender(sender)
             elif sender != self._sender:
-                await sender.disconnect()
+                sender.disconnect()
             if isinstance(file, str) or in_memory:
                 f.close()
 
diff --git a/telethon/client/telegrambaseclient.py b/telethon/client/telegrambaseclient.py
index 90f42cf1..8a21b70c 100644
--- a/telethon/client/telegrambaseclient.py
+++ b/telethon/client/telegrambaseclient.py
@@ -327,17 +327,25 @@ class TelegramBaseClient(abc.ABC):
         sender = getattr(self, '_sender', None)
         return sender and sender.is_connected()
 
-    async def disconnect(self):
+    def disconnect(self):
         """
         Disconnects from Telegram.
+
+        Returns a dummy completed future with ``None`` as a result so
+        you can ``await`` this method just like every other method for
+        consistency or compatibility.
         """
-        await self._disconnect()
+        self._disconnect()
         if getattr(self, 'session', None):
             if getattr(self, '_state', None):
                 self.session.set_update_state(0, self._state)
             self.session.close()
 
-    async def _disconnect(self):
+        result = self._loop.create_future()
+        result.set_result(None)
+        return result
+
+    def _disconnect(self):
         """
         Disconnect only, without closing the session. Used in reconnections
         to different data centers, where we don't want to close the session
@@ -347,24 +355,20 @@ class TelegramBaseClient(abc.ABC):
         # All properties may be ``None`` if `__init__` fails, and this
         # method will be called from `__del__` which would crash then.
         if getattr(self, '_sender', None):
-            await self._sender.disconnect()
+            self._sender.disconnect()
         if getattr(self, '_updates_handle', None):
-            await self._updates_handle
+            self._updates_handle.cancel()
 
     def __del__(self):
         if not self.is_connected() or self.loop.is_closed():
             return
 
+        # READ THIS IF DISCONNECT IS ASYNC AND A TASK WOULD BE MADE.
         # Python 3.5.2's ``asyncio`` mod seems to have a bug where it's not
         # able to close the pending tasks properly, and letting the script
         # complete without calling disconnect causes the script to trigger
         # 100% CPU load. Call disconnect to make sure it doesn't happen.
-        if not inspect.iscoroutinefunction(self.disconnect):
-            self.disconnect()
-        elif self._loop.is_running():
-            self._loop.create_task(self.disconnect())
-        else:
-            self._loop.run_until_complete(self.disconnect())
+        self.disconnect()
 
     async def _switch_dc(self, new_dc):
         """
@@ -378,7 +382,7 @@ class TelegramBaseClient(abc.ABC):
         # so it's not valid anymore. Set to None to force recreating it.
         self.session.auth_key = None
         self.session.save()
-        await self._disconnect()
+        self._disconnect()
         return await self.connect()
 
     async def _auth_key_callback(self, auth_key):
@@ -466,7 +470,7 @@ class TelegramBaseClient(abc.ABC):
             self._borrowed_senders[dc_id] = (n, sender)
             if not n:
                 __log__.info('Disconnecting borrowed sender for DC %d', dc_id)
-                await sender.disconnect()
+                sender.disconnect()
 
     async def _get_cdn_client(self, cdn_redirect):
         """Similar to ._borrow_exported_client, but for CDNs"""
diff --git a/telethon/client/updates.py b/telethon/client/updates.py
index 84c07eb4..0ae1f2f8 100644
--- a/telethon/client/updates.py
+++ b/telethon/client/updates.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class UpdateMethods(UserMethods):
         try:
             await self.disconnected
         except KeyboardInterrupt:
-            await self.disconnect()
+            self.disconnect()
 
     def run_until_disconnected(self):
         """
@@ -37,12 +37,7 @@ class UpdateMethods(UserMethods):
         try:
             return self.loop.run_until_complete(self.disconnected)
         except KeyboardInterrupt:
-            # Importing the magic sync module turns disconnect into sync.
-            # TODO Maybe disconnect() should not need the magic module...
-            if inspect.iscoroutinefunction(self.disconnect):
-                self.loop.run_until_complete(self.disconnect())
-            else:
-                self.disconnect()
+            self.disconnect()
 
     def on(self, event):
         """
@@ -223,7 +218,7 @@ class UpdateMethods(UserMethods):
             except asyncio.TimeoutError:
                 pass
             except asyncio.CancelledError:
-                await self.disconnect()
+                self.disconnect()
                 return
             except Exception as e:
                 continue  # Any disconnected exception should be ignored
diff --git a/telethon/network/mtprotosender.py b/telethon/network/mtprotosender.py
index e18d48a1..a12b38f0 100644
--- a/telethon/network/mtprotosender.py
+++ b/telethon/network/mtprotosender.py
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ class MTProtoSender:
     def is_connected(self):
         return self._user_connected
 
-    async def disconnect(self):
+    def disconnect(self):
         """
         Cleanly disconnects the instance from the network, cancels
         all pending requests, and closes the send and receive loops.
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ class MTProtoSender:
             else:
                 e = ConnectionError('auth_key generation failed {} times'
                                     .format(self._retries))
-                await self._disconnect(error=e)
+                self._disconnect(error=e)
                 raise e
 
         __log__.debug('Starting send loop')
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ class MTProtoSender:
                 break
         else:
             __log__.error('Failed to reconnect automatically.')
-            await self._disconnect(error=ConnectionError())
+            self._disconnect(error=ConnectionError())
 
     def _start_reconnect(self):
         """Starts a reconnection in the background."""
diff --git a/telethon_examples/gui.py b/telethon_examples/gui.py
index 949d1eb9..7c48142a 100644
--- a/telethon_examples/gui.py
+++ b/telethon_examples/gui.py
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ async def main(loop, interval=0.05):
         if 'application has been destroyed' not in e.args[0]:
             raise
     finally:
-        await app.cl.disconnect()
+        app.cl.disconnect()
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":