diff --git a/client/version.py b/client/version.py
index 08efb4e0..6b70df4f 100644
--- a/client/version.py
+++ b/client/version.py
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-ELECTRUM_VERSION = "0.40"
+ELECTRUM_VERSION = "0.40a"
 SEED_VERSION = 4  # bump this everytime the seed generation is modified
diff --git a/server/server.py b/server/server.py
index a1346ebe..9b2fc491 100755
--- a/server/server.py
+++ b/server/server.py
@@ -457,7 +457,11 @@ def listen_thread(store):
     s.listen(1)
     while not stopping:
         conn, addr = s.accept()
-        thread.start_new_thread(client_thread, (addr, conn,))
+        try:
+            thread.start_new_thread(client_thread, (addr, conn,))
+        except:
+            # can't start new thread if there is no memory..
+            traceback.print_exc(file=sys.stdout)