diff --git a/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketServer.cpp b/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketServer.cpp
index 023cfab8..7a9d4ea4 100644
--- a/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketServer.cpp
+++ b/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketServer.cpp
@@ -201,15 +201,15 @@ namespace ix
         });
     }
 
-    int WebSocketServer::listenAndStart()
+    bool WebSocketServer::listenAndStart()
     {
         auto res = listen();
         if (!res.first)
         {
-            return 1;
+            return false;
         }
 
         start();
-        return 0;
+        return true;
     }
 } // namespace ix
diff --git a/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketServer.h b/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketServer.h
index c864f403..fab7c0e4 100644
--- a/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketServer.h
+++ b/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocketServer.h
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ namespace ix
         std::set<std::shared_ptr<WebSocket>> getClients();
 
         void makeBroadcastServer();
-        int listenAndStart();
+        bool listenAndStart();
 
         const static int kDefaultHandShakeTimeoutSecs;
 
diff --git a/ws/ws.cpp b/ws/ws.cpp
index 8d8ec5c1..a5c535e7 100644
--- a/ws/ws.cpp
+++ b/ws/ws.cpp
@@ -2768,8 +2768,14 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         ix::WebSocketServer server(port, hostname);
         server.setTLSOptions(tlsOptions);
         server.makeBroadcastServer();
-        server.listenAndStart();
-        server.wait();
+        if (!server.listenAndStart())
+        {
+            spdlog::error("Error while starting the server");
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            server.wait();
+        }
     }
     else if (app.got_subcommand("send"))
     {