diff --git a/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/vm/VMTransportThreadSafeTest.java b/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/vm/VMTransportThreadSafeTest.java
index fa3ef3c82d..8534f8908a 100644
--- a/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/vm/VMTransportThreadSafeTest.java
+++ b/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/vm/VMTransportThreadSafeTest.java
@@ -298,6 +298,7 @@ public class VMTransportThreadSafeTest {
 
         final VMTestTransportListener remoteListener = new VMTestTransportListener(remoteReceived);
         remote.setTransportListener(remoteListener);
+        remote.start();
 
         final Response[] answer = new Response[1];
         ResponseCorrelator responseCorrelator = new ResponseCorrelator(local);