diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 02d257b5..8b13e6f2 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ set( IXWEBSOCKET_SOURCES
     ixwebsocket/IXSocketFactory.cpp
     ixwebsocket/IXDNSLookup.cpp
     ixwebsocket/IXCancellationRequest.cpp
+    ixwebsocket/IXNetSystem.cpp
     ixwebsocket/IXWebSocket.cpp
     ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketServer.cpp
     ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketTransport.cpp
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ set( IXWEBSOCKET_HEADERS
     ixwebsocket/IXSetThreadName.h
     ixwebsocket/IXDNSLookup.h
     ixwebsocket/IXCancellationRequest.h
+    ixwebsocket/IXNetSystem.h
     ixwebsocket/IXProgressCallback.h
     ixwebsocket/IXWebSocket.h
     ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketServer.h
diff --git a/ixwebsocket/IXDNSLookup.cpp b/ixwebsocket/IXDNSLookup.cpp
index 9bdd78c7..18c5879a 100644
--- a/ixwebsocket/IXDNSLookup.cpp
+++ b/ixwebsocket/IXDNSLookup.cpp
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ namespace ix
         _done(false),
         _id(_nextId++)
     {
-
+        initNetSystem();
     }
 
     DNSLookup::~DNSLookup()
@@ -137,6 +137,11 @@ namespace ix
             return nullptr;
         }
 
+        if (!_errMsg.empty())
+        {
+            errMsg = _errMsg;
+        }
+
         std::unique_lock<std::mutex> rlock(_resMutex);
         return _res;
     }
diff --git a/ixwebsocket/IXNetSystem.cpp b/ixwebsocket/IXNetSystem.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ff290ee1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ixwebsocket/IXNetSystem.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ *  IXNetSystem.cpp
+ *  Author: Benjamin Sergeant
+ *  Copyright (c) 2019 Machine Zone. All rights reserved.
+ */
+
+#include "IXNetSystem.h"
+
+namespace ix
+{
+    bool initNetSystem()
+    {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+        WORD wVersionRequested;
+        WSADATA wsaData;
+        int err;
+
+        /* Use the MAKEWORD(lowbyte, highbyte) macro declared in Windef.h */
+        wVersionRequested = MAKEWORD(2, 2);
+
+        err = WSAStartup(wVersionRequested, &wsaData);
+
+        return err == 0;
+#else
+        return true;
+#endif
+    }
+
+    bool uninitNetSystem()
+    {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+        int err = WSACleanup();
+
+        return err == 0;
+#else
+        return true;
+#endif
+    }
+}
diff --git a/ixwebsocket/IXNetSystem.h b/ixwebsocket/IXNetSystem.h
index 40522fb4..e8993e1a 100644
--- a/ixwebsocket/IXNetSystem.h
+++ b/ixwebsocket/IXNetSystem.h
@@ -23,3 +23,9 @@
 # include <sys/time.h>
 # include <unistd.h>
 #endif
+
+namespace ix
+{
+    bool initNetSystem();
+    bool uninitNetSystem();
+}
diff --git a/ixwebsocket/IXSocketConnect.cpp b/ixwebsocket/IXSocketConnect.cpp
index 7944fa40..08011a33 100644
--- a/ixwebsocket/IXSocketConnect.cpp
+++ b/ixwebsocket/IXSocketConnect.cpp
@@ -57,10 +57,10 @@ namespace ix
         SocketConnect::configure(fd);
 
         if (::connect(fd, address->ai_addr, address->ai_addrlen) == -1
-            && errno != EINPROGRESS)
+            && errno != EINPROGRESS && errno != 0)
         {
-            closeSocket(fd);
             errMsg = strerror(errno);
+            closeSocket(fd);
             return -1;
         }
 
diff --git a/test/IXTest.cpp b/test/IXTest.cpp
index 2d575a67..9808994a 100644
--- a/test/IXTest.cpp
+++ b/test/IXTest.cpp
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ namespace ix
         }
 
         struct sockaddr_in sa; // server address information
-        socklen_t len;
+        socklen_t len = sizeof(sa);
         if (getsockname(sockfd, (struct sockaddr *) &sa, &len) < 0)
         {
             log("Cannot compute a free port. getsockname error.");
diff --git a/test/IXTest.h b/test/IXTest.h
index 89bb57cf..c438406f 100644
--- a/test/IXTest.h
+++ b/test/IXTest.h
@@ -52,6 +52,5 @@ namespace ix
 
     void log(const std::string& msg);
 
-    bool computeFreePorts(int count);
     int getFreePort();
 }