diff --git a/server/tcp_server.c b/server/tcp_server.c
index a4532f93..7ba55bf1 100644
--- a/server/tcp_server.c
+++ b/server/tcp_server.c
@@ -146,6 +146,11 @@ run_tcp_server(fko_srv_options_t *opts)
         log_msg(LOG_ERR, "run_tcp_server: bind() failed: %s",
             strerror(errno));
         close(s_sock);
+
+    /* In the case of code coverage, don't die on bind() fail, as netcat may be running  */
+#if CODE_COVERAGE
+        return 0;
+#endif
         return -1;
     }
 
diff --git a/test/test-fwknop.pl b/test/test-fwknop.pl
index 71d09164..5ef8d9bc 100755
--- a/test/test-fwknop.pl
+++ b/test/test-fwknop.pl
@@ -2882,6 +2882,25 @@ sub spa_cycle() {
 
     return $rv;
 }
+sub tcp_spa_cycle() {
+    my $test_hr = shift;
+
+    my ($rv, $server_was_stopped, $fw_rule_created, $fw_rule_removed)
+            = &client_server_interaction($test_hr, [], $USE_CLIENT);
+    if (!$rv) {
+        $rv = 1;
+        #start netcat listening on tcp/62201
+        system("nc -k -l 62201 > /dev/null 2>&1 &");
+        my ($rv, $server_was_stopped, $fw_rule_created, $fw_rule_removed)
+                = &client_server_interaction($test_hr, [], $USE_CLIENT);
+
+        #stop netcat
+        system("killall nc");
+}
+    $rv = 0 unless &process_output_matches($test_hr);
+
+    return $rv;
+}
 
 sub iptables_no_flush_init_exit() {
     my $test_hr = shift;
diff --git a/test/tests/rijndael.pl b/test/tests/rijndael.pl
index a7d780e8..e2bed6a0 100644
--- a/test/tests/rijndael.pl
+++ b/test/tests/rijndael.pl
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@
         'category' => 'Rijndael',
         'subcategory' => 'client+server',
         'detail'   => "SPA over TCP connection",
-        'function' => \&spa_cycle,
+        'function' => \&tcp_spa_cycle,
         'cmdline'  => "$default_client_args -P tcp",
         'fwknopd_cmdline' => "$fwknopdCmd -c $cf{'tcp_server'} -a $cf{'def_access'} " .
             "-d $default_digest_file -p $default_pid_file $intf_str",