diff --git a/config/protocol.unit_testnet.yml b/config/protocol.unit_testnet.yml
index f00fa93ff..c21e1c3f0 100644
--- a/config/protocol.unit_testnet.yml
+++ b/config/protocol.unit_testnet.yml
@@ -49,9 +49,10 @@ ApplicationConfiguration:
   AttemptConnPeers: 5
   MinPeers: 1
   RPC:
+    Address: 127.0.0.1
     Enabled: true
     EnableCORSWorkaround: false
-    Port: 20332
+    Port: 0 # let the system choose port dynamically
   Prometheus:
     Enabled: false #since it's not useful for unit tests.
     Port: 2112
diff --git a/pkg/rpc/server/server.go b/pkg/rpc/server/server.go
index 87f43b519..5641b9501 100644
--- a/pkg/rpc/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/rpc/server/server.go
@@ -122,8 +122,9 @@ func New(chain core.Blockchainer, conf rpc.Config, coreServer *network.Server, l
 	}
 }
 
-// Start creates a new JSON-RPC server
-// listening on the configured port.
+// Start creates a new JSON-RPC server listening on the configured port. It's
+// supposed to be run as a separate goroutine (like http.Server's Serve) and it
+// returns its errors via given errChan.
 func (s *Server) Start(errChan chan error) {
 	if !s.config.Enabled {
 		s.log.Info("RPC server is not enabled")
diff --git a/pkg/rpc/server/server_helper_test.go b/pkg/rpc/server/server_helper_test.go
index c6ee3167e..7dc8fd263 100644
--- a/pkg/rpc/server/server_helper_test.go
+++ b/pkg/rpc/server/server_helper_test.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"go.uber.org/zap/zaptest"
 )
 
-func initServerWithInMemoryChain(t *testing.T) (*core.Blockchain, *httptest.Server) {
+func initServerWithInMemoryChain(t *testing.T) (*core.Blockchain, *Server, *httptest.Server) {
 	var nBlocks uint32
 
 	net := config.ModeUnitTestNet
@@ -56,11 +56,13 @@ func initServerWithInMemoryChain(t *testing.T) (*core.Blockchain, *httptest.Serv
 	server, err := network.NewServer(serverConfig, chain, logger)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	rpcServer := New(chain, cfg.ApplicationConfiguration.RPC, server, logger)
+	errCh := make(chan error, 2)
+	go rpcServer.Start(errCh)
 
 	handler := http.HandlerFunc(rpcServer.handleHTTPRequest)
 	srv := httptest.NewServer(handler)
 
-	return chain, srv
+	return chain, &rpcServer, srv
 }
 
 type FeerStub struct{}
diff --git a/pkg/rpc/server/server_test.go b/pkg/rpc/server/server_test.go
index 8c2fb826a..9def78be5 100644
--- a/pkg/rpc/server/server_test.go
+++ b/pkg/rpc/server/server_test.go
@@ -896,9 +896,10 @@ func TestRPC(t *testing.T) {
 // calls. Some tests change the chain state, thus we reinitialize the chain from
 // scratch here.
 func testRPCProtocol(t *testing.T, doRPCCall func(string, string, *testing.T) []byte) {
-	chain, httpSrv := initServerWithInMemoryChain(t)
+	chain, rpcSrv, httpSrv := initServerWithInMemoryChain(t)
 
 	defer chain.Close()
+	defer rpcSrv.Shutdown()
 
 	e := &executor{chain: chain, httpSrv: httpSrv}
 	for method, cases := range rpcTestCases {