diff --git a/src/std_system.rs b/src/std_system.rs
index 0f62155..4ef847b 100644
--- a/src/std_system.rs
+++ b/src/std_system.rs
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ async fn call_rpc_async<C: CustomTypes<S>, S: System<C>>(context: &NetsBloxConte
 pub struct StdSystem<C: CustomTypes<StdSystem<C>>> {
     config: Config<C, Self>,
     context: Arc<NetsBloxContext>,
-    client: Arc<reqwest::Client>,
+    client: reqwest::Client,
     rng: Mutex<ChaChaRng>,
     clock: Arc<Clock>,
 
@@ -93,8 +93,9 @@ impl<C: CustomTypes<StdSystem<C>>> StdSystem<C> {
     }
     /// Initializes a new instance of [`StdSystem`] targeting the given NetsBlox server base url, e.g., `https://cloud.netsblox.org`.
     pub async fn new_async(base_url: String, project_name: Option<&str>, config: Config<C, Self>, clock: Arc<Clock>) -> Self {
+        let client = reqwest::Client::builder().build().unwrap();
         let services_url = {
-            let configuration = reqwest::get(format!("{base_url}/configuration")).await.unwrap().json::<BTreeMap<String, Json>>().await.unwrap();
+            let configuration = client.get(format!("{base_url}/configuration")).send().await.unwrap().json::<BTreeMap<String, Json>>().await.unwrap();
             let services_hosts = configuration["servicesHosts"].as_array().unwrap();
             services_hosts[0].as_object().unwrap().get("url").unwrap().as_str().unwrap().to_owned()
         };
@@ -111,13 +112,14 @@ impl<C: CustomTypes<StdSystem<C>>> StdSystem<C> {
         };
 
         let message_replies = Arc::new(Mutex::new(Default::default()));
-        let (message_sender, message_receiver, message_injector) = {
+        let (message_sender, message_receiver, message_injector, ws_finish_flag) = {
             let (base_url, client_id, project_name, message_replies) = (context.base_url.clone(), context.client_id.clone(), context.project_name.clone(), message_replies.clone());
             let (out_sender, out_receiver) = channel();
             let (in_sender, in_receiver) = channel();
+            let finish_flag = Arc::new(());
 
             #[tokio::main(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 1)]
-            async fn handler(base_url: String, client_id: String, project_name: String, message_replies: Arc<Mutex<BTreeMap<ExternReplyKey, ReplyEntry>>>, out_receiver: Receiver<OutgoingMessage>, in_sender: Sender<IncomingMessage>) {
+            async fn handler(base_url: String, client_id: String, project_name: String, message_replies: Arc<Mutex<BTreeMap<ExternReplyKey, ReplyEntry>>>, out_receiver: Receiver<OutgoingMessage>, in_sender: Sender<IncomingMessage>, finish_flag: Arc<()>) {
                 let ws_url = format!("{}/network/{client_id}/connect", if let Some(x) = base_url.strip_prefix("http") { format!("ws{x}") } else { format!("wss://{base_url}") });
                 let (ws, _) = tokio_tungstenite::connect_async(ws_url).await.unwrap();
                 let (mut ws_sender, ws_receiver) = ws.split();
@@ -179,6 +181,7 @@ impl<C: CustomTypes<StdSystem<C>>> StdSystem<C> {
                 });
 
                 ws_sender_sender.send(Message::Text(json!({ "type": "set-uuid", "clientId": client_id }).to_string())).await.unwrap();
+                drop(finish_flag);
 
                 let src_id = format!("{project_name}@{client_id}#vm");
                 fn resolve_targets<'a>(targets: &'a mut [String], src_id: &String) -> &'a mut [String] {
@@ -218,12 +221,16 @@ impl<C: CustomTypes<StdSystem<C>>> StdSystem<C> {
                 }
             }
             let in_sender_clone = in_sender.clone();
-            thread::spawn(move || handler(base_url, client_id, project_name, message_replies, out_receiver, in_sender_clone));
+            let finish_flag_clone = finish_flag.clone();
+            thread::spawn(move || handler(base_url, client_id, project_name, message_replies, out_receiver, in_sender_clone, finish_flag_clone));
 
-            (out_sender, in_receiver, in_sender)
+            (out_sender, in_receiver, in_sender, Arc::downgrade(&finish_flag))
         };
 
-        let client = Arc::new(reqwest::Client::builder().build().unwrap());
+        while ws_finish_flag.upgrade().is_some() {
+            tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_millis(10)).await;
+        }
+
         let meta = client.post(format!("{}/projects/", context.base_url))
             .json(&json!({ "clientId": context.client_id, "name": context.project_name }))
             .send().await.unwrap()
@@ -246,7 +253,7 @@ impl<C: CustomTypes<StdSystem<C>>> StdSystem<C> {
             let (sender, receiver) = channel();
 
             #[tokio::main(flavor = "multi_thread", worker_threads = 1)]
-            async fn handler<C: CustomTypes<StdSystem<C>>>(client: Arc<reqwest::Client>, context: Arc<NetsBloxContext>, receiver: Receiver<RpcRequest<C, StdSystem<C>>>) {
+            async fn handler<C: CustomTypes<StdSystem<C>>>(client: reqwest::Client, context: Arc<NetsBloxContext>, receiver: Receiver<RpcRequest<C, StdSystem<C>>>) {
                 while let Ok(request) = receiver.recv() {
                     let (client, context) = (client.clone(), context.clone());
                     tokio::spawn(async move {