diff --git a/dapr/Cargo.toml b/dapr/Cargo.toml
index 9d532f4..e14001d 100644
--- a/dapr/Cargo.toml
+++ b/dapr/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ workflow = ["dep:dapr-durabletask"]
 async-trait = { workspace = true }
 axum = "0.7"
 chrono = "0.4"
-dapr-durabletask = { version = "0.0.2", optional = true }
+dapr-durabletask = { version = "0.0.3", optional = true }
 futures = "0.3"
 http = "1"
 log = "0.4"
diff --git a/dapr/src/client/mod.rs b/dapr/src/client/mod.rs
index 13ede08..03debd3 100644
--- a/dapr/src/client/mod.rs
+++ b/dapr/src/client/mod.rs
@@ -192,10 +192,7 @@ impl<T: DaprInterface> Client<T> {
     where
         S: Into<String>,
     {
-        let mut mdata = HashMap::<String, String>::new();
-        if let Some(m) = metadata {
-            mdata = m;
-        }
+        let mdata = metadata.unwrap_or_default();
         self.0
             .publish_event(PublishEventRequest {
                 pubsub_name: pubsub_name.into(),
@@ -263,10 +260,7 @@ impl<T: DaprInterface> Client<T> {
     where
         S: Into<String>,
     {
-        let mut mdata = HashMap::<String, String>::new();
-        if let Some(m) = metadata {
-            mdata = m;
-        }
+        let mdata = metadata.unwrap_or_default();
 
         self.0
             .get_state(GetStateRequest {
@@ -347,10 +341,7 @@ impl<T: DaprInterface> Client<T> {
     where
         S: Into<String>,
     {
-        let mut mdata = HashMap::<String, String>::new();
-        if let Some(m) = metadata {
-            mdata = m;
-        }
+        let mdata = metadata.unwrap_or_default();
 
         self.0
             .query_state_alpha1(QueryStateRequest {
@@ -395,10 +386,7 @@ impl<T: DaprInterface> Client<T> {
     where
         S: Into<String>,
     {
-        let mut mdata = HashMap::<String, String>::new();
-        if let Some(m) = metadata {
-            mdata = m;
-        }
+        let mdata = metadata.unwrap_or_default();
 
         self.0
             .delete_state(DeleteStateRequest {
@@ -456,10 +444,7 @@ impl<T: DaprInterface> Client<T> {
         TInput: Serialize,
         TOutput: for<'a> Deserialize<'a>,
     {
-        let mut mdata = HashMap::<String, String>::new();
-        if let Some(m) = metadata {
-            mdata = m;
-        }
+        let mut mdata = metadata.unwrap_or_default();
 
         mdata.insert("Content-Type".to_string(), "application/json".to_string());
 
diff --git a/dapr/src/workflow/context.rs b/dapr/src/workflow/context.rs
index aa94963..9c9899d 100644
--- a/dapr/src/workflow/context.rs
+++ b/dapr/src/workflow/context.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 use std::future::Future;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
+use dapr_durabletask::api::ExternalEventResult;
 use dapr_durabletask::worker::{ActivityResult, OrchestratorResult, Registry};
-use futures::future::Either;
 use serde::Serialize;
 use serde::de::DeserializeOwned;
 
@@ -81,11 +81,9 @@ pub trait WorkflowContextExt {
 
     /// Wait for an external event with an optional timeout and deserialize the payload.
     ///
-    /// When `timeout` is `Some`, a durable timer is scheduled alongside the
-    /// external event wait. The underlying timer cannot be cancelled in
-    /// `dapr-durabletask 0.0.1`, so the timer event is persisted into history
-    /// even when the external event arrives first; this is the same behaviour
-    /// as other Durable Task SDKs.
+    /// When `timeout` is `Some`, `dapr-durabletask` schedules a durable timer
+    /// tagged with the event name and removes the pending event waiter if the
+    /// timer fires first.
     ///
     /// # Arguments
     ///
@@ -175,21 +173,20 @@ impl WorkflowContextExt for WorkflowContext {
     where
         T: DeserializeOwned + Send + 'static,
     {
-        let event = self.wait_for_external_event(name);
-        let timer = timeout.map(|duration| self.create_timer(duration));
+        let ctx = self.clone();
+        let name = name.to_string();
         async move {
-            let output = match timer {
-                Some(timer) => {
-                    futures::pin_mut!(event);
-                    futures::pin_mut!(timer);
-                    match futures::future::select(event, timer).await {
-                        Either::Left((event_result, _)) => event_result?,
-                        Either::Right(_) => {
-                            return Err(dapr_durabletask::api::DurableTaskError::Timeout);
-                        }
+            let output = match timeout {
+                Some(duration) => match ctx
+                    .wait_for_external_event_with_timeout(&name, duration)
+                    .await?
+                {
+                    ExternalEventResult::Received(output) => output,
+                    ExternalEventResult::TimedOut => {
+                        return Err(dapr_durabletask::api::DurableTaskError::Timeout);
                     }
-                }
-                None => event.await?,
+                },
+                None => ctx.wait_for_external_event(&name).await?,
             };
             deserialize_task_output(output)
         }