diff --git a/gns3server/controller/__init__.py b/gns3server/controller/__init__.py
index 4b40761e..da0f6f9c 100644
--- a/gns3server/controller/__init__.py
+++ b/gns3server/controller/__init__.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class Controller:
         self.gns3vm = GNS3VM(self)
         self.symbols = Symbols()
         # Store settings shared by the different GUI will be replace by dedicated API later
-        self._settings = {}
+        self._settings = None
 
         self._config_file = os.path.join(Config.instance().config_dir, "gns3_controller.conf")
         log.info("Load controller configuration file {}".format(self._config_file))
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ class Controller:
         if name == "gns3vm":
             name = "Main server"
 
+        computes = yield from self._load_controller_settings()
         yield from self.add_compute(compute_id="local",
                                     name=name,
                                     protocol=server_config.get("protocol", "http"),
@@ -76,7 +77,11 @@ class Controller:
                                     user=server_config.get("user", ""),
                                     password=server_config.get("password", ""),
                                     force=True)
-        yield from self._load_controller_settings()
+        for c in computes:
+            try:
+                yield from self.add_compute(**c)
+            except aiohttp.web_exceptions.HTTPConflict:
+                pass  # Skip not available servers at loading
         yield from self.load_projects()
         yield from self.gns3vm.auto_start_vm()
         yield from self._project_auto_open()
@@ -100,6 +105,9 @@ class Controller:
         """
         Save the controller configuration on disk
         """
+        # We don't save during the loading otherwise we could lost stuff
+        if self._settings is None:
+            return
         data = {
             "computes": [],
             "settings": self._settings,
@@ -135,18 +143,17 @@ class Controller:
                 data = json.load(f)
         except (OSError, ValueError) as e:
             log.critical("Cannot load %s: %s", self._config_file, str(e))
-            return
+            self._settings = {}
+            return []
 
-        if "settings" in data:
+        if "settings" in data and data["settings"] is not None:
             self._settings = data["settings"]
+        else:
+            self._settings = {}
         if "gns3vm" in data:
             self.gns3vm.settings = data["gns3vm"]
 
-        for c in data["computes"]:
-            try:
-                yield from self.add_compute(**c)
-            except aiohttp.web_exceptions.HTTPConflict:
-                pass  # Skip not available servers at loading
+        return data["computes"]
 
     @asyncio.coroutine
     def load_projects(self):
@@ -225,12 +232,14 @@ class Controller:
                         "headless": vm_settings.get("headless", False),
                         "vmname": vmname
                     }
+                self._settings = {}
 
     @property
     def settings(self):
         """
         Store settings shared by the different GUI will be replace by dedicated API later. Dictionnary
         """
+        assert self._settings is not None
         return self._settings
 
     @settings.setter
diff --git a/gns3server/web/web_server.py b/gns3server/web/web_server.py
index e955cdd6..bccb3083 100644
--- a/gns3server/web/web_server.py
+++ b/gns3server/web/web_server.py
@@ -249,13 +249,6 @@ class WebServer:
                 time.sleep(1)  # this is to prevent too many request to slow down the server
         log.debug("UDP server discovery stopped")
 
-    @asyncio.coroutine
-    def _on_startup(self, *args):
-        """
-        Called when the HTTP server start
-        """
-        yield from Controller.instance().start()
-
     def run(self):
         """
         Starts the server.
@@ -295,9 +288,8 @@ class WebServer:
         for key, val in os.environ.items():
             log.debug("ENV %s=%s", key, val)
 
+        self._loop.run_until_complete(Controller.instance().start())
         self._app = aiohttp.web.Application()
-        # Background task started with the server
-        self._app.on_startup.append(self._on_startup)
 
         # Allow CORS for this domains
         cors = aiohttp_cors.setup(self._app, defaults={
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 3b810fc5..2ecd7764 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ def controller(tmpdir, controller_config_path):
     Controller._instance = None
     controller = Controller.instance()
     controller._config_file = controller_config_path
+    controller._settings = {}
     return controller
 
 
diff --git a/tests/controller/test_controller.py b/tests/controller/test_controller.py
index 3ae347a2..80f0a00b 100644
--- a/tests/controller/test_controller.py
+++ b/tests/controller/test_controller.py
@@ -60,23 +60,8 @@ def test_load_controller_settings(controller, controller_config_path, async_run)
     data["gns3vm"] = {"vmname": "Test VM"}
     with open(controller_config_path, "w+") as f:
         json.dump(data, f)
-    async_run(controller._load_controller_settings())
+    assert len(async_run(controller._load_controller_settings())) == 1
     assert controller.settings["IOU"]
-    assert controller.computes["test1"].__json__() == {
-        "compute_id": "test1",
-        "connected": False,
-        "host": "localhost",
-        "port": 8000,
-        "protocol": "http",
-        "user": "admin",
-        "name": "http://admin@localhost:8000",
-        "cpu_usage_percent": None,
-        "memory_usage_percent": None,
-        "capabilities": {
-            "version": None,
-            "node_types": []
-        }
-    }
     assert controller.gns3vm.settings["vmname"] == "Test VM"