diff --git a/smack-core/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/NetworkUtil.java b/smack-core/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/NetworkUtil.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d111963f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/smack-core/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/NetworkUtil.java
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/**
+ *
+ * Copyright 2016 Florian Schmaus
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.jivesoftware.smack.util;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.BindException;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.net.ServerSocket;
+import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
+
+public class NetworkUtil {
+
+    private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(NetworkUtil.class.getName());
+
+    public static ServerSocket getSocketOnLoopback() {
+        final InetAddress loopbackAddress = InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress();
+        final int portMin = 1024;
+        final int portMax = (1 << 16) - 1;
+        final int backlog = 1;
+
+        ServerSocket serverSocket = null;
+        for (int port = portMin; port <= portMax; port++) {
+            try {
+                serverSocket = new ServerSocket(port, backlog, loopbackAddress);
+                break;
+            } catch (BindException e) {
+                LOGGER.log(Level.FINEST, "Could not bind port " + port + ", trying next", e);
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                throw new IllegalStateException(e);
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (serverSocket == null) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException();
+        }
+
+        return serverSocket;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/smack-extensions/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/bytestreams/socks5/Socks5ClientTest.java b/smack-extensions/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/bytestreams/socks5/Socks5ClientTest.java
index 44a38e359..aab52d2a7 100644
--- a/smack-extensions/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/bytestreams/socks5/Socks5ClientTest.java
+++ b/smack-extensions/src/test/java/org/jivesoftware/smackx/bytestreams/socks5/Socks5ClientTest.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import java.net.ServerSocket;
 import java.net.Socket;
 
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.SmackException;
+import org.jivesoftware.smack.util.NetworkUtil;
 import org.jivesoftware.smackx.bytestreams.socks5.packet.Bytestream.StreamHost;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
@@ -43,8 +44,8 @@ import org.jxmpp.jid.JidTestUtil;
 public class Socks5ClientTest {
 
     // settings
-    private String serverAddress = "127.0.0.1";
-    private int serverPort = 7890;
+    private int serverPort;
+    private String serverAddress;
     private DomainBareJid proxyJID = JidTestUtil.MUC_EXAMPLE_ORG;
     private String digest = "digest";
     private ServerSocket serverSocket;
@@ -57,7 +58,9 @@ public class Socks5ClientTest {
     @Before
     public void setup() throws Exception {
         // create SOCKS5 proxy server socket
-        serverSocket = new ServerSocket(serverPort);
+        serverSocket = NetworkUtil.getSocketOnLoopback();
+        serverAddress = serverSocket.getInetAddress().getHostAddress();
+        serverPort = serverSocket.getLocalPort();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -330,6 +333,9 @@ public class Socks5ClientTest {
      */
     @After
     public void cleanup() throws Exception {
-        serverSocket.close();
+        // Avoid NPE if serverSocket could not get created for whateve reason.
+        if (serverSocket != null) {
+            serverSocket.close();
+        }
     }
 }