diff --git a/src/qt/bitcoin.cpp b/src/qt/bitcoin.cpp
index 3cf7e53c0..9b0b1d6e4 100644
--- a/src/qt/bitcoin.cpp
+++ b/src/qt/bitcoin.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 #include "init.h"
 #include "main.h"
+#include "rpcserver.h"
 #include "ui_interface.h"
 #include "util.h"
 #include "wallet.h"
@@ -227,6 +228,13 @@ void BitcoinCore::initialize()
     {
         LogPrintf("Running AppInit2 in thread\n");
         int rv = AppInit2(threadGroup);
+        if(rv)
+        {
+            /* Start a dummy RPC thread if no RPC thread is active yet
+             * to handle timeouts.
+             */
+            StartDummyRPCThread();
+        }
         emit initializeResult(rv);
     } catch (std::exception& e) {
         handleRunawayException(&e);
diff --git a/src/rpcprotocol.h b/src/rpcprotocol.h
index 6bf371e75..d3ed48525 100644
--- a/src/rpcprotocol.h
+++ b/src/rpcprotocol.h
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ enum RPCErrorCode
     RPC_INVALID_PARAMETER           = -8,  // Invalid, missing or duplicate parameter
     RPC_DATABASE_ERROR              = -20, // Database error
     RPC_DESERIALIZATION_ERROR       = -22, // Error parsing or validating structure in raw format
-    RPC_SERVER_NOT_STARTED          = -18, // RPC server was not started (StartRPCThreads() not called)
 
     // P2P client errors
     RPC_CLIENT_NOT_CONNECTED        = -9,  // Bitcoin is not connected
diff --git a/src/rpcserver.cpp b/src/rpcserver.cpp
index 9d34a900f..0d9e95402 100644
--- a/src/rpcserver.cpp
+++ b/src/rpcserver.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ static asio::io_service* rpc_io_service = NULL;
 static map<string, boost::shared_ptr<deadline_timer> > deadlineTimers;
 static ssl::context* rpc_ssl_context = NULL;
 static boost::thread_group* rpc_worker_group = NULL;
+static boost::asio::io_service::work *rpc_dummy_work = NULL;
 
 void RPCTypeCheck(const Array& params,
                   const list<Value_type>& typesExpected,
@@ -607,6 +608,19 @@ void StartRPCThreads()
         rpc_worker_group->create_thread(boost::bind(&asio::io_service::run, rpc_io_service));
 }
 
+void StartDummyRPCThread()
+{
+    if(rpc_io_service == NULL)
+    {
+        rpc_io_service = new asio::io_service();
+        /* Create dummy "work" to keep the thread from exiting when no timeouts active,
+         * see http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_51_0/doc/html/boost_asio/reference/io_service.html#boost_asio.reference.io_service.stopping_the_io_service_from_running_out_of_work */
+        rpc_dummy_work = new asio::io_service::work(*rpc_io_service);
+        rpc_worker_group = new boost::thread_group();
+        rpc_worker_group->create_thread(boost::bind(&asio::io_service::run, rpc_io_service));
+    }
+}
+
 void StopRPCThreads()
 {
     if (rpc_io_service == NULL) return;
@@ -615,6 +629,7 @@ void StopRPCThreads()
     rpc_io_service->stop();
     if (rpc_worker_group != NULL)
         rpc_worker_group->join_all();
+    delete rpc_dummy_work; rpc_dummy_work = NULL;
     delete rpc_worker_group; rpc_worker_group = NULL;
     delete rpc_ssl_context; rpc_ssl_context = NULL;
     delete rpc_io_service; rpc_io_service = NULL;
diff --git a/src/rpcserver.h b/src/rpcserver.h
index 9087be9e8..9008c3281 100644
--- a/src/rpcserver.h
+++ b/src/rpcserver.h
@@ -20,7 +20,14 @@
 
 class CBlockIndex;
 
+/* Start RPC threads */
 void StartRPCThreads();
+/* Alternative to StartRPCThreads for the GUI, when no server is
+ * used. The RPC thread in this case is only used to handle timeouts.
+ * If real RPC threads have already been started this is a no-op.
+ */
+void StartDummyRPCThread();
+/* Stop RPC threads */
 void StopRPCThreads();
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/rpcwallet.cpp b/src/rpcwallet.cpp
index 8ad5c9c51..68f5fe525 100644
--- a/src/rpcwallet.cpp
+++ b/src/rpcwallet.cpp
@@ -1562,8 +1562,6 @@ Value walletpassphrase(const Array& params, bool fHelp)
 
     if (fHelp)
         return true;
-    if (!fServer)
-        throw JSONRPCError(RPC_SERVER_NOT_STARTED, "Error: RPC server was not started, use server=1 to change this.");
     if (!pwalletMain->IsCrypted())
         throw JSONRPCError(RPC_WALLET_WRONG_ENC_STATE, "Error: running with an unencrypted wallet, but walletpassphrase was called.");