diff --git a/src/common/remoteio.c b/src/common/remoteio.c
--- a/src/common/remoteio.c
+++ b/src/common/remoteio.c
@@ -739,6 +739,8 @@ int _remoteio_tcp_open(struct remoteio *
   struct addrinfo addrinfo_hints;
   struct addrinfo *addrinfo_res;
 
+  static char *default_port = REMOTEIO_DEFAULT_PORT;
+
   /**
      only hostname should be free()-ed, not port,
      because both are from the same block of malloc()-ed
@@ -755,7 +757,7 @@ int _remoteio_tcp_open(struct remoteio *
       port ++;
     }
   else
-    port = REMOTEIO_DEFAULT_PORT;
+    port = default_port;
 
   memset(&addrinfo_hints, '\0', sizeof(struct addrinfo));
   addrinfo_hints.ai_family = AF_UNSPEC;
@@ -767,9 +769,13 @@ int _remoteio_tcp_open(struct remoteio *
 #endif
   addrinfo_hints.ai_socktype = SOCK_STREAM;
 
-  tmp = getaddrinfo(server->hostname, port, &addrinfo_hints, &addrinfo_res);
+  tmp = getaddrinfo(hostname, port, &addrinfo_hints, &addrinfo_res);
   if(tmp)
-    fprintf(stderr, "error resolving %s:%s: %s\n", server->hostname, port, gai_strerror(tmp));
+    {
+      fprintf(stderr, "error resolving %s:%s: %s\n", server->hostname, port, gai_strerror(tmp));
+      free(hostname);
+      return 1;
+    }
   fprintf(stderr, "connecting to %s[%s]:%s\n", server->hostname, addrinfo_res->ai_canonname, port);
 
   free(hostname);