diff --git a/backends/libpurple/main.cpp b/backends/libpurple/main.cpp
index 92652201..3acc3d08 100644
--- a/backends/libpurple/main.cpp
+++ b/backends/libpurple/main.cpp
@@ -1697,6 +1697,33 @@ static void spectrum_sigchld_handler(int sig)
 	}
 }
 
+static int create_socket(char *host, int portno) {
+	struct sockaddr_in serv_addr;
+	
+	int m_sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
+	memset((char *) &serv_addr, 0, sizeof(serv_addr));
+	serv_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
+	serv_addr.sin_port = htons(portno);
+
+	hostent *hos;  // Resolve name
+	if ((hos = gethostbyname(host)) == NULL) {
+		// strerror() will not work for gethostbyname() and hstrerror() 
+		// is supposedly obsolete
+		exit(1);
+	}
+	serv_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = *((unsigned long *) hos->h_addr_list[0]);
+
+	if (connect(m_sock, (struct sockaddr *) &serv_addr, sizeof(serv_addr)) < 0) {
+		close(m_sock);
+		m_sock = 0;
+	}
+
+	int flags = fcntl(m_sock, F_GETFL);
+	flags |= O_NONBLOCK;
+	fcntl(m_sock, F_SETFL, flags);
+	return m_sock;
+}
+
 static void transportDataReceived(gpointer data, gint source, PurpleInputCondition cond) {
 	if (cond & PURPLE_INPUT_READ) {
 		char buffer[65535];
@@ -1798,30 +1825,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 
 		initPurple();
 
-		int portno = port;
-		struct sockaddr_in serv_addr;
-
-		m_sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
-		memset((char *) &serv_addr, 0, sizeof(serv_addr));
-		serv_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
-		serv_addr.sin_port = htons(portno);
-
-		hostent *hos;  // Resolve name
-		if ((hos = gethostbyname(host)) == NULL) {
-			// strerror() will not work for gethostbyname() and hstrerror() 
-			// is supposedly obsolete
-			exit(1);
-		}
-		serv_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = *((unsigned long *) hos->h_addr_list[0]);
-
-		if (connect(m_sock, (struct sockaddr *) &serv_addr, sizeof(serv_addr)) < 0) {
-			close(m_sock);
-			m_sock = 0;
-		}
-
-		int flags = fcntl(m_sock, F_GETFL);
-		flags |= O_NONBLOCK;
-		fcntl(m_sock, F_SETFL, flags);
+		m_sock = create_socket(host, port);
 
 		purple_input_add(m_sock, PURPLE_INPUT_READ, &transportDataReceived, NULL);
 // 		purple_input_add(m_sock, PURPLE_INPUT_WRITE, &transportDataReceived, NULL);