diff --git a/src/bitcoinrpc.cpp b/src/bitcoinrpc.cpp
index 1a3f51ea4..6072b270b 100644
--- a/src/bitcoinrpc.cpp
+++ b/src/bitcoinrpc.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ const Object emptyobj;
 
 void ThreadRPCServer3(void* parg);
 
+static inline unsigned short GetDefaultRPCPort()
+{
+    return GetBoolArg("-testnet", false) ? 18332 : 8332;
+}
+
 Object JSONRPCError(int code, const string& message)
 {
     Object error;
@@ -760,7 +765,7 @@ void ThreadRPCServer2(void* parg)
     // Try a dual IPv6/IPv4 socket, falling back to separate IPv4 and IPv6 sockets
     const bool loopback = !mapArgs.count("-rpcallowip");
     asio::ip::address bindAddress = loopback ? asio::ip::address_v6::loopback() : asio::ip::address_v6::any();
-    ip::tcp::endpoint endpoint(bindAddress, GetArg("-rpcport", 8332));
+    ip::tcp::endpoint endpoint(bindAddress, GetArg("-rpcport", GetDefaultRPCPort()));
     boost::system::error_code v6_only_error;
     boost::shared_ptr<ip::tcp::acceptor> acceptor(new ip::tcp::acceptor(io_service));
 
@@ -1055,7 +1060,7 @@ Object CallRPC(const string& strMethod, const Array& params)
     asio::ssl::stream<asio::ip::tcp::socket> sslStream(io_service, context);
     SSLIOStreamDevice<asio::ip::tcp> d(sslStream, fUseSSL);
     iostreams::stream< SSLIOStreamDevice<asio::ip::tcp> > stream(d);
-    if (!d.connect(GetArg("-rpcconnect", "127.0.0.1"), GetArg("-rpcport", "8332")))
+    if (!d.connect(GetArg("-rpcconnect", "127.0.0.1"), GetArg("-rpcport", itostr(GetDefaultRPCPort()))))
         throw runtime_error("couldn't connect to server");
 
     // HTTP basic authentication
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index dc425da64..8910ed071 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ std::string HelpMessage()
 #endif
         "  -rpcuser=<user>        " + _("Username for JSON-RPC connections") + "\n" +
         "  -rpcpassword=<pw>      " + _("Password for JSON-RPC connections") + "\n" +
-        "  -rpcport=<port>        " + _("Listen for JSON-RPC connections on <port> (default: 8332)") + "\n" +
+        "  -rpcport=<port>        " + _("Listen for JSON-RPC connections on <port> (default: 8332 or testnet: 18332)") + "\n" +
         "  -rpcallowip=<ip>       " + _("Allow JSON-RPC connections from specified IP address") + "\n" +
         "  -rpcconnect=<ip>       " + _("Send commands to node running on <ip> (default: 127.0.0.1)") + "\n" +
         "  -blocknotify=<cmd>     " + _("Execute command when the best block changes (%s in cmd is replaced by block hash)") + "\n" +