diff --git a/lib/tasks/smoke_test.rake b/lib/tasks/smoke_test.rake
index 4952d9e6e90..483a02d4ccc 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/smoke_test.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/smoke_test.rake
@@ -6,7 +6,17 @@ task "smoke:test" => :environment do
   phantom_path = phantom_path || 'phantomjs'
 
   url = ENV["URL"] || Discourse.base_url
+  
   puts "Testing: #{url}"
+
+  require 'open-uri'
+  require 'net/http'
+
+  res = Net::HTTP.get_response(URI.parse(url))
+  if res.code != "200"
+    raise "TRIVIAL GET FAILED WITH #{res.code}"
+  end
+
   results = `#{phantom_path} #{Rails.root}/spec/phantom_js/smoke_test.js #{url}`
 
   puts results
diff --git a/spec/phantom_js/smoke_test.js b/spec/phantom_js/smoke_test.js
index 04966366dac..34c34b78952 100644
--- a/spec/phantom_js/smoke_test.js
+++ b/spec/phantom_js/smoke_test.js
@@ -98,9 +98,9 @@ page.runTests = function(){
   });
 
   navigate("navigate to first topic", function(){
-    Em.run.next(function(){
+    Em.run.later(function(){
       $('.main-link a:first').click();
-    });
+    }, 500);
   });
 
   test("at least one post body", function(){
@@ -108,9 +108,11 @@ page.runTests = function(){
   });
   
   navigate("navigate to first user", function(){
-    Em.run.next(function(){
+    // for whatever reason the clicks do not respond at the begining
+    //  defering
+    Em.run.later(function(){
       $('.topic-meta-data a:first').focus().click();
-    });
+    },500);
   });
 
   test("has about me section",function(){