diff --git a/test/setup_transfer.cpp b/test/setup_transfer.cpp
index ae2b565fa..7ecec2eb4 100644
--- a/test/setup_transfer.cpp
+++ b/test/setup_transfer.cpp
@@ -161,10 +161,12 @@ void stop_proxy(int port)
 	}
 }
 
-void start_proxy(int port, int proxy_type)
+int start_proxy(int proxy_type)
 {
 	using namespace libtorrent;
 
+	int port = 10000 + (rand() % 50000);
+
 	stop_proxy(port);
 
 	char const* type = "";
@@ -203,6 +205,7 @@ void start_proxy(int port, int proxy_type)
 	fprintf(stderr, "launched\n");
 	// apparently delegate takes a while to open its listen port
 	test_sleep(500);
+	return port;
 }
 
 using namespace libtorrent;
diff --git a/test/setup_transfer.hpp b/test/setup_transfer.hpp
index f678bf990..acda8f70b 100644
--- a/test/setup_transfer.hpp
+++ b/test/setup_transfer.hpp
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ setup_transfer(libtorrent::session* ses1, libtorrent::session* ses2
 
 int start_web_server(bool ssl = false, bool chunked = false);
 void stop_web_server();
-void start_proxy(int port, int type);
+int start_proxy(int type);
 void stop_proxy(int port);
 
 void stop_tracker();
diff --git a/test/test_http_connection.cpp b/test/test_http_connection.cpp
index e84ee243a..f49e044e7 100644
--- a/test/test_http_connection.cpp
+++ b/test/test_http_connection.cpp
@@ -134,16 +134,17 @@ void run_test(std::string const& url, int size, int status, int connected
 	TEST_CHECK(http_status == status || status == -1);
 }
 
-void run_suite(std::string const& protocol, proxy_settings const& ps, int port)
+void run_suite(std::string const& protocol, proxy_settings ps, int port)
 {
 	if (ps.type != proxy_settings::none)
 	{
-		start_proxy(ps.port, ps.type);
+		ps.port = start_proxy(ps.type);
 	}
 	char const* test_name[] = {"no", "SOCKS4", "SOCKS5"
 		, "SOCKS5 password protected", "HTTP", "HTTP password protected"};
-	std::cout << "\n\n********************** using " << test_name[ps.type]
-		<< " proxy **********************\n" << std::endl;
+
+	printf("\n\n********************** using %s proxy **********************\n"
+		, test_name[ps.type]);
 
 	typedef boost::optional<error_code> err;
 	// this requires the hosts file to be modified
diff --git a/test/test_transfer.cpp b/test/test_transfer.cpp
index f87969b68..7fb85acf4 100644
--- a/test/test_transfer.cpp
+++ b/test/test_transfer.cpp
@@ -247,13 +247,11 @@ void test_transfer(int proxy_type, bool test_disk_full = false, bool test_allowe
 	session ses1(fingerprint("LT", 0, 1, 0, 0), std::make_pair(48075, 49000), "0.0.0.0", 0, alert_mask);
 	session ses2(fingerprint("LT", 0, 1, 0, 0), std::make_pair(49075, 50000), "0.0.0.0", 0, alert_mask);
 
-	int proxy_port = (rand() % 30000) + 10000;
+	proxy_settings ps;
 	if (proxy_type)
 	{
-		start_proxy(proxy_port, proxy_type);
-		proxy_settings ps;
+		ps.port = start_proxy(proxy_type);
 		ps.hostname = "127.0.0.1";
-		ps.port = proxy_port;
 		ps.username = "testuser";
 		ps.password = "testpass";
 		ps.type = (proxy_settings::proxy_type)proxy_type;
@@ -585,7 +583,7 @@ void test_transfer(int proxy_type, bool test_disk_full = false, bool test_allowe
 		stop_tracker();
 		stop_web_server();
 	}
-	if (proxy_type) stop_proxy(proxy_port);
+	if (proxy_type) stop_proxy(ps.port);
 }
 
 int test_main()
diff --git a/test/test_web_seed.cpp b/test/test_web_seed.cpp
index 381558551..f4cc31380 100644
--- a/test/test_web_seed.cpp
+++ b/test/test_web_seed.cpp
@@ -70,10 +70,9 @@ void test_transfer(boost::intrusive_ptr<torrent_info> torrent_file
 	
 	if (proxy)
 	{
-		start_proxy(8002, proxy);
 		proxy_settings ps;
+		ps.port = start_proxy(proxy);
 		ps.hostname = "127.0.0.1";
-		ps.port = 8002;
 		ps.username = "testuser";
 		ps.password = "testpass";
 		ps.type = (proxy_settings::proxy_type)proxy;