diff --git a/gns3server/compute/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py b/gns3server/compute/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py
index 32e59756..a691bf1c 100644
--- a/gns3server/compute/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py
+++ b/gns3server/compute/virtualbox/virtualbox_vm.py
@@ -206,6 +206,9 @@ class VirtualBoxVM(BaseNode):
         Starts this VirtualBox VM.
         """
 
+        if self.status == "started":
+            return
+
         # resume the VM if it is paused
         vm_state = yield from self._get_vm_state()
         if vm_state == "paused":
diff --git a/gns3server/compute/vmware/vmware_vm.py b/gns3server/compute/vmware/vmware_vm.py
index de3c7333..bbf6ac00 100644
--- a/gns3server/compute/vmware/vmware_vm.py
+++ b/gns3server/compute/vmware/vmware_vm.py
@@ -386,6 +386,9 @@ class VMwareVM(BaseNode):
         Starts this VMware VM.
         """
 
+        if self.status == "started":
+            return
+
         if (yield from self.is_running()):
             raise VMwareError("The VM is already running in VMware")