diff --git a/app.js b/app.js
index 1a626e9b74..15d74ecc05 100644
--- a/app.js
+++ b/app.js
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ nconf.argv().env();
 
 var fs = require('fs'),
 	os = require('os'),
+	async = require('async'),
 	semver = require('semver'),
 	winston = require('winston'),
 	path = require('path'),
@@ -141,14 +142,21 @@ function start() {
 
 					nconf.set('url', nconf.get('base_url') + (nconf.get('use_port') ? ':' + nconf.get('port') : '') + nconf.get('relative_path'));
 
-					plugins.ready(function() {
-						webserver.init(function() {
-							webserver.listen(function() {
-								process.send({
-									action: 'ready'
-								});
+					async.waterfall([
+						async.apply(plugins.ready),
+						async.apply(webserver.init),
+						async.apply(webserver.listen)
+					], function(err) {
+						if (err) {
+							winston.error(err.stack);
+							process.exit();
+						}
+
+						if (process.send) {
+							process.send({
+								action: 'ready'
 							});
-						});
+						}
 					});
 
 					process.on('SIGTERM', shutdown);
diff --git a/src/meta/templates.js b/src/meta/templates.js
index d89107db13..b9939d6419 100644
--- a/src/meta/templates.js
+++ b/src/meta/templates.js
@@ -17,12 +17,10 @@ var mkdirp = require('mkdirp'),
 
 Templates.compile = function(callback) {
 	if (cluster.isWorker && process.env.cluster_setup !== 'true') {
-		return setTimeout(function() {
-			emitter.emit('templates:compiled');
-			if (callback) {
-				callback();
-			}
-		}, 1000);
+		emitter.emit('templates:compiled');
+		if (callback) {
+			callback();
+		}
 	}
 
 	var coreTemplatesPath = nconf.get('core_templates_path'),
diff --git a/src/middleware/index.js b/src/middleware/index.js
index 16b36673d8..8804efe1d5 100644
--- a/src/middleware/index.js
+++ b/src/middleware/index.js
@@ -108,7 +108,6 @@ module.exports = function(app, data) {
 	auth.initialize(app, middleware);
 
 	routeCurrentTheme(app, data.currentThemeId, data.themesData);
-	meta.templates.compile();
 
 	return middleware;
 };
diff --git a/src/webserver.js b/src/webserver.js
index 7df1608d1e..af561d6ad4 100644
--- a/src/webserver.js
+++ b/src/webserver.js
@@ -100,22 +100,24 @@ if(nconf.get('ssl')) {
 		winston.info('Using ports 80 and 443 is not recommend; use a proxy instead. See README.md');
 	}
 
-	module.exports.server = server;
-	module.exports.init = function(callback) {
-		server.on("error", function(err){
-			winston.error(err.stack);
-			console.log(err.stack);
-			if (err.code === 'EADDRINUSE') {
-				winston.error('NodeBB address in use, exiting...');
-				if (cluster.isWorker) {
-					cluster.worker.kill();
-				} else {
-					process.exit(0);
-				}
+	server.on('error', function(err) {
+		winston.error(err.stack);
+		console.log(err.stack);
+		if (err.code === 'EADDRINUSE') {
+			winston.error('NodeBB address in use, exiting...');
+			if (cluster.isWorker) {
+				cluster.worker.kill();
 			} else {
-				throw err;
+				process.exit(0);
 			}
-		});
+		} else {
+			throw err;
+		}
+	});
+
+	module.exports.server = server;
+
+	module.exports.init = function(callback) {
 
 		emitter.all(['templates:compiled', 'meta:js.compiled', 'meta:css.compiled'], function() {
 			winston.info('NodeBB Ready');
@@ -123,18 +125,18 @@ if(nconf.get('ssl')) {
 			emitter.removeAllListeners('templates:compiled').removeAllListeners('meta:js.compiled').removeAllListeners('meta:css.compiled');
 		});
 
-		if (process.send) {
-			callback();
-		} else {
-			module.exports.listen();
-		}
+		meta.templates.compile(callback);
 	};
 
 	module.exports.listen = function(callback) {
 		var	bind_address = ((nconf.get('bind_address') === "0.0.0.0" || !nconf.get('bind_address')) ? '0.0.0.0' : nconf.get('bind_address')) + ':' + port;
 		winston.info('NodeBB attempting to listen on: ' + bind_address);
 
-		server.listen(port, nconf.get('bind_address'), function() {
+		server.listen(port, nconf.get('bind_address'), function(err) {
+			if (err) {
+				return callback(err);
+			}
+
 			winston.info('NodeBB is now listening on: ' + bind_address);
 			if (process.send) {
 				process.send({
@@ -144,9 +146,7 @@ if(nconf.get('ssl')) {
 				});
 			}
 
-			if (typeof callback === 'function') {
-				callback();
-			}
+			callback();
 		});
 	};