diff --git a/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/telnet_server.py b/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/telnet_server.py
index b5e214a5..bfbee71b 100644
--- a/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/telnet_server.py
+++ b/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/telnet_server.py
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ class TelnetServer(threading.Thread):
 
     def __init__(self, vm_name, pipe_path, host, port):
 
+        threading.Thread.__init__(self)
         self._vm_name = vm_name
         self._pipe = pipe_path
         self._host = host
@@ -58,20 +59,15 @@ class TelnetServer(threading.Thread):
             # we must a thread for reading the pipe on Windows because it is a Named Pipe and it cannot be monitored by select()
             self._use_thread = True
 
-        try:
-            if ":" in self._host:
-                # IPv6 address support
-                self._server_socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET6, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
-            else:
-                self._server_socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
-                self._server_socket.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1)
-                self._server_socket.bind((self._host, self._port))
-                self._server_socket.listen(socket.SOMAXCONN)
-        except OSError as e:
-            log.critical("unable to create a server socket: {}".format(e))
-            return
+        if ":" in self._host:
+            # IPv6 address support
+            self._server_socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET6, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+        else:
+            self._server_socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+            self._server_socket.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1)
+            self._server_socket.bind((self._host, self._port))
+            self._server_socket.listen(socket.SOMAXCONN)
 
-        threading.Thread.__init__(self)
         log.info("Telnet server initialized, waiting for clients on {}:{}".format(self._host, self._port))
 
     def run(self):
diff --git a/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py b/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py
index 2b318498..801d9bb4 100644
--- a/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py
+++ b/gns3server/modules/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py
@@ -711,7 +711,10 @@ class VirtualBoxVM(BaseVM):
                 self._serial_pipe = open(pipe_name, "a+b")
             except OSError as e:
                 raise VirtualBoxError("Could not open the pipe {}: {}".format(pipe_name, e))
-            self._telnet_server_thread = TelnetServer(self._vmname, msvcrt.get_osfhandle(self._serial_pipe.fileno()), self._manager.port_manager.console_host, self._console)
+            try:
+                self._telnet_server_thread = TelnetServer(self._vmname, msvcrt.get_osfhandle(self._serial_pipe.fileno()), self._manager.port_manager.console_host, self._console)
+            except OSError as e:
+                raise VirtualBoxError("Unable to create Telnet server: {}".format(e))
             self._telnet_server_thread.start()
         else:
             try:
@@ -719,7 +722,10 @@ class VirtualBoxVM(BaseVM):
                 self._serial_pipe.connect(pipe_name)
             except OSError as e:
                 raise VirtualBoxError("Could not connect to the pipe {}: {}".format(pipe_name, e))
-            self._telnet_server_thread = TelnetServer(self._vmname, self._serial_pipe, self._manager.port_manager.console_host, self._console)
+            try:
+                self._telnet_server_thread = TelnetServer(self._vmname, self._serial_pipe, self._manager.port_manager.console_host, self._console)
+            except OSError as e:
+                raise VirtualBoxError("Unable to create Telnet server: {}".format(e))
             self._telnet_server_thread.start()
 
     def _stop_remote_console(self):
@@ -728,14 +734,15 @@ class VirtualBoxVM(BaseVM):
         """
 
         if self._telnet_server_thread:
-            self._telnet_server_thread.stop()
-            self._telnet_server_thread.join(timeout=3)
-            if self._telnet_server_thread.isAlive():
+            if self._telnet_server_thread.is_alive():
+                self._telnet_server_thread.stop()
+                self._telnet_server_thread.join(timeout=3)
+            if self._telnet_server_thread.is_alive():
                 log.warn("Serial pipe thread is still alive!")
             self._telnet_server_thread = None
 
         if self._serial_pipe:
-            if sys.platform.startswith('win'):
+            if sys.platform.startswith("win"):
                 win32file.CloseHandle(msvcrt.get_osfhandle(self._serial_pipe.fileno()))
             else:
                 self._serial_pipe.close()