diff --git a/lib/libwebsockets.c b/lib/libwebsockets.c
index b5c70c0e..e2cd38ef 100755
--- a/lib/libwebsockets.c
+++ b/lib/libwebsockets.c
@@ -2448,6 +2448,9 @@ lws_create_basic_wsi(struct lws_context *context, int tsi)
 {
 	struct lws *new_wsi;
 
+	if (!context->vhost_list)
+		return NULL;
+
 	if ((unsigned int)context->pt[tsi].fds_count ==
 	    context->fd_limit_per_thread - 1) {
 		lwsl_err("no space for new conn\n");
diff --git a/lib/lws-plat-win.c b/lib/lws-plat-win.c
index f3e292a9..ed1c92eb 100644
--- a/lib/lws-plat-win.c
+++ b/lib/lws-plat-win.c
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ _lws_plat_service_tsi(struct lws_context *context, int timeout_ms, int tsi)
 	int n, m;
 
 	/* stay dead once we are dead */
-	if (context == NULL)
+	if (context == NULL || !context->vhost_list)
 		return 1;
 
 	pt = &context->pt[tsi];