diff --git a/scripts/runner.pl b/scripts/runner.pl
index a15e179..ecbfd2f 100644
--- a/scripts/runner.pl
+++ b/scripts/runner.pl
@@ -77,29 +77,6 @@ sub update_db_config {
     say "Updated db.conf for database $db_prefix\_$experiment";
 }
 
-sub wait_for_port {
-    my ( $host, $port, $timeout ) = @_;
-    my $deadline = time + $timeout;
-
-    while ( time < $deadline ) {
-        my $sock = IO::Socket::INET->new(
-            PeerHost => $host,
-            PeerPort => $port,
-            Proto    => 'tcp',
-            Timeout  => 1,
-        );
-
-        if ($sock) {
-            close $sock;
-            return 1;
-        }
-
-        select undef, undef, undef, 0.1;
-    }
-
-    return 0;
-}
-
 sub cpu_count {
     open( my $handle, "/proc/cpuinfo" ) or die "Can't open cpuinfo: $!\n";
     my $count = scalar( map /^processor/, <$handle> );
@@ -269,14 +246,13 @@ sub inject {
                 "--inject-single-bit",
                 "--inject-registers"
             )
-        ) or die "exec server failed: $!";
+        ) == 0 or die "exec server failed: $!";
     }
 
     # parent -> client
 
     say "Waiting for server...";
-    die "Server did not become ready on port $fail_server_port\n"
-      unless wait_for_port( "127.0.0.1", $fail_server_port, 10 );
+    sleep(10);
 
     say "Running client with $count cores in parent process";
 
@@ -303,7 +279,7 @@ sub inject {
             "-Wf,--detected-marker=fail_marker_detected",
             ">/dev/null"
         )
-    ) or die "client failed: $?";
+    ) == 0 or die "client failed: $?";
 
     say "Killing server with pid $pid...";
     kill 'TERM', $pid;