diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/loop.py b/src/calibre/srv/loop.py
index 56006fb5ca..2b831fb968 100644
--- a/src/calibre/srv/loop.py
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/loop.py
@@ -15,12 +15,14 @@ from calibre.ptempfile import TemporaryDirectory
 from calibre.srv.opts import Options
 from calibre.srv.utils import (
     socket_errors_socket_closed, socket_errors_nonblocking, HandleInterrupt,
-    socket_errors_eintr, start_cork, stop_cork, DESIRED_SEND_BUFFER_SIZE)
+    socket_errors_eintr, start_cork, stop_cork, DESIRED_SEND_BUFFER_SIZE,
+    create_sock_pair)
 from calibre.utils.socket_inheritance import set_socket_inherit
 from calibre.utils.logging import ThreadSafeLog
 from calibre.utils.monotonic import monotonic
 
 READ, WRITE, RDWR = 'READ', 'WRITE', 'RDWR'
+WAKEUP, JOB_DONE = bytes(bytearray(xrange(2)))
 
 class ReadBuffer(object):  # {{{
 
@@ -109,7 +111,7 @@ class ReadBuffer(object):  # {{{
         return ans
     # }}}
 
-class Connection(object):
+class Connection(object):  # {{{
 
     def __init__(self, socket, opts, ssl_context, tdir, addr):
         self.opts = opts
@@ -244,6 +246,7 @@ class Connection(object):
 
     def handle_timeout(self):
         return False
+# }}}
 
 class ServerLoop(object):
 
@@ -282,6 +285,11 @@ class ServerLoop(object):
                 set_socket_inherit(self.pre_activated_socket, False)
                 self.bind_address = self.pre_activated_socket.getsockname()
 
+        self.create_control_connection()
+
+    def create_control_connection(self):
+        self.control_in, self.control_out = create_sock_pair()
+
     def __str__(self):
         return "%s(%r)" % (self.__class__.__name__, self.bind_address)
     __repr__ = __str__
@@ -399,7 +407,7 @@ class ServerLoop(object):
             writable = []
         else:
             try:
-                readable, writable, _ = select.select([self.socket.fileno()] + read_needed, write_needed, [], self.opts.timeout)
+                readable, writable, _ = select.select([self.socket.fileno(), self.control_out.fileno()] + read_needed, write_needed, [], self.opts.timeout)
             except ValueError:  # self.socket.fileno() == -1
                 self.ready = False
                 self.log.error('Listening socket was unexpectedly terminated')
@@ -442,28 +450,7 @@ class ServerLoop(object):
                     self.close(s, conn)
 
     def wakeup(self):
-        # Touch our own socket to make select() return immediately.
-        sock = getattr(self, "socket", None)
-        if sock is not None:
-            try:
-                host, port = sock.getsockname()[:2]
-            except socket.error as e:
-                if e.errno not in socket_errors_socket_closed:
-                    raise
-            else:
-                for res in socket.getaddrinfo(host, port, socket.AF_UNSPEC,
-                                                socket.SOCK_STREAM):
-                    af, socktype, proto, canonname, sa = res
-                    s = None
-                    try:
-                        s = socket.socket(af, socktype, proto)
-                        s.settimeout(1.0)
-                        s.connect((host, port))
-                        s.close()
-                    except socket.error:
-                        if s is not None:
-                            s.close()
-        return sock
+        self.control_in.sendall(WAKEUP)
 
     def close(self, s, conn):
         self.connection_map.pop(s, None)
@@ -471,6 +458,7 @@ class ServerLoop(object):
 
     def get_actions(self, readable, writable):
         listener = self.socket.fileno()
+        control = self.control_out.fileno()
         for s in readable:
             if s == listener:
                 sock, addr = self.accept()
@@ -480,6 +468,24 @@ class ServerLoop(object):
                         self.connection_map[s] = conn = self.handler(sock, self.opts, self.ssl_context, self.tdir, addr)
                         if self.ssl_context is not None:
                             yield s, conn, RDWR
+            elif s == control:
+                try:
+                    c = self.control_out.recv(1)
+                except socket.error:
+                    if not self.ready:
+                        return
+                    self.log.error('Control socket raised an error, resetting')
+                    self.create_control_connection()
+                    continue
+                if c == JOB_DONE:
+                    pass
+                elif c == WAKEUP:
+                    pass
+                elif not c:
+                    if not self.ready:
+                        return
+                    self.log.error('Control socket failed to recv(), resetting')
+                    self.create_control_connection()
             else:
                 yield s, self.connection_map[s], READ
         for s in writable:
diff --git a/src/calibre/srv/utils.py b/src/calibre/srv/utils.py
index 5685cc303b..f93cc3e3e9 100644
--- a/src/calibre/srv/utils.py
+++ b/src/calibre/srv/utils.py
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ def create_sock_pair(port=0):
     temp_srv_sock = socket.socket()
     set_socket_inherit(temp_srv_sock, False)
     temp_srv_sock.setblocking(False)
-    temp_srv_sock.bind(('localhost', port))
+    temp_srv_sock.bind(('127.0.0.1', port))
     port = temp_srv_sock.getsockname()[1]
     temp_srv_sock.listen(1)
     with closing(temp_srv_sock):
@@ -148,13 +148,12 @@ def create_sock_pair(port=0):
         client_sock = socket.socket()
         client_sock.setblocking(False)
         set_socket_inherit(client_sock, False)
-        while True:
-            try:
-                client_sock.connect(('localhost', port))
-            except socket.error as err:
-                # EWOULDBLOCK is not an error, as the socket is non-blocking
-                if err.errno not in socket_errors_nonblocking:
-                    raise
+        try:
+            client_sock.connect(('127.0.0.1', port))
+        except socket.error as err:
+            # EWOULDBLOCK is not an error, as the socket is non-blocking
+            if err.errno not in socket_errors_nonblocking:
+                raise
 
         # Use select to wait for connect() to succeed.
         timeout = 1