diff --git a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/em_helper.rb b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/em_helper.rb
index 3e290c47f..592f97e7b 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/em_helper.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/em_helper.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ require 'jam_ruby'
 module JamWebEventMachine
 
   @@log = Logging.logger[JamWebEventMachine]
-  
+
   # starts amqp & eventmachine up first.
   # and then calls your block.
   # After the supplied block is done,
@@ -36,8 +36,9 @@ module JamWebEventMachine
   end
 
 
-  def self.run_em(calling_thread = nil)
+  def self.run_em(calling_thread = nil, semaphore = nil, ran = {})
 
+    semaphore.lock if semaphore
     EM.run do
       # this is global because we need to check elsewhere if we are currently connected to amqp before signalling success with some APIs, such as 'create session'
       $amqp_connection_manager = AmqpConnectionManager.new(true, 4, :host => APP_CONFIG.rabbitmq_host, :port => APP_CONFIG.rabbitmq_port)
@@ -54,6 +55,8 @@ module JamWebEventMachine
         end
       end
 
+      ran[:ran] = true
+      semaphore.unlock if semaphore
       calling_thread.wakeup if calling_thread
     end
   end
@@ -65,12 +68,18 @@ module JamWebEventMachine
   end
 
   def self.run
-    return if defined?(Rails::Console)
+
+    ran = {}
+    semaphore = Mutex.new
     current = Thread.current
     Thread.new do
-      run_em(current)
+      run_em(current, semaphore, ran)
     end
-    Thread.stop
+    semaphore.synchronize  {
+      unless ran[:ran]
+        semaphore.sleep(10)
+      end
+    }
   end
 
   def self.start