diff --git a/src/plugins/squish/squishprocessbase.cpp b/src/plugins/squish/squishprocessbase.cpp
index 7b68f70a553..23d3a49aa70 100644
--- a/src/plugins/squish/squishprocessbase.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/squish/squishprocessbase.cpp
@@ -22,4 +22,22 @@ void SquishProcessBase::setState(SquishProcessState state)
     emit stateChanged(state);
 }
 
+void SquishProcessBase::start(const Utils::CommandLine &cmdline, const Utils::Environment &env)
+{
+    QTC_ASSERT(m_process.state() == QProcess::NotRunning, return);
+    // avoid crashes on fast re-use
+    m_process.close();
+
+    m_process.setCommand(cmdline);
+    m_process.setEnvironment(env);
+
+    setState(Starting);
+    m_process.start();
+    if (!m_process.waitForStarted()) {
+        setState(StartFailed);
+        qWarning() << "squishprocess did not start within 30s";
+    }
+    setState(Started);
+}
+
 } // namespace Squish::Internal
diff --git a/src/plugins/squish/squishprocessbase.h b/src/plugins/squish/squishprocessbase.h
index 946d5aa40de..088eca8a73b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/squish/squishprocessbase.h
+++ b/src/plugins/squish/squishprocessbase.h
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ signals:
 
 protected:
     void setState(SquishProcessState state);
+    virtual void start(const Utils::CommandLine &cmdline, const Utils::Environment &env);
     virtual void onDone() {}
     virtual void onErrorOutput() {}
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/squish/squishserverprocess.cpp b/src/plugins/squish/squishserverprocess.cpp
index 006eeb594b6..4d7bb2ef97f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/squish/squishserverprocess.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/squish/squishserverprocess.cpp
@@ -18,20 +18,8 @@ void SquishServerProcess::start(const Utils::CommandLine &commandLine,
                                 const Utils::Environment &environment)
 {
     QTC_ASSERT(m_process.state() == QProcess::NotRunning, return);
-    // especially when writing server config we re-use the process fast and start the server
-    // several times and may crash as the process may not have been cleanly destructed yet
-    m_process.close();
-
     m_serverPort = -1;
-    m_process.setCommand(commandLine);
-    m_process.setEnvironment(environment);
-
-    setState(Starting);
-    m_process.start();
-    if (!m_process.waitForStarted()) {
-        setState(StartFailed);
-        qWarning() << "squishserver did not start within 30s";
-    }
+    SquishProcessBase::start(commandLine, environment);
 }
 
 void SquishServerProcess::stop()
@@ -68,7 +56,7 @@ void SquishServerProcess::onStandardOutput()
                 int port = trimmed.mid(6).toInt(&ok);
                 if (ok) {
                     m_serverPort = port;
-                    setState(Started);
+                    emit portRetrieved();
                 } else {
                     qWarning() << "could not get port number" << trimmed.mid(6);
                     setState(StartFailed);
diff --git a/src/plugins/squish/squishserverprocess.h b/src/plugins/squish/squishserverprocess.h
index 3503dfbd0cc..2be419c1e75 100644
--- a/src/plugins/squish/squishserverprocess.h
+++ b/src/plugins/squish/squishserverprocess.h
@@ -19,9 +19,12 @@ public:
     int port() const { return m_serverPort; }
 
     void start(const Utils::CommandLine &commandLine,
-               const Utils::Environment &environment);
+               const Utils::Environment &environment) override;
     void stop();
 
+signals:
+    void portRetrieved();
+
 private:
     void onStandardOutput();
     void onErrorOutput() override;
diff --git a/src/plugins/squish/squishtools.cpp b/src/plugins/squish/squishtools.cpp
index 9266c9dd2ca..194a9c85f14 100644
--- a/src/plugins/squish/squishtools.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/squish/squishtools.cpp
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ SquishTools::SquishTools(QObject *parent)
             this, &SquishTools::onServerStateChanged);
     connect(&m_serverProcess, &SquishServerProcess::logOutputReceived,
             this, &SquishTools::logOutputReceived);
+    connect(&m_serverProcess, &SquishServerProcess::portRetrieved,
+            this, &SquishTools::onServerPortRetrieved);
 
     s_instance = this;
     m_perspective.initPerspective();
@@ -336,7 +338,6 @@ void SquishTools::onServerStateChanged(SquishProcessState state)
         break;
     case Started:
         logAndChangeToolsState(SquishTools::ServerStarted);
-        onServerStarted();
         break;
     case StartFailed:
         logAndChangeToolsState(SquishTools::ServerStartFailed);
@@ -356,8 +357,9 @@ void SquishTools::onServerStateChanged(SquishProcessState state)
     }
 }
 
-void SquishTools::onServerStarted()
+void SquishTools::onServerPortRetrieved()
 {
+    QTC_ASSERT(m_state == ServerStarted, return);
     if (m_request == RunnerQueryRequested) {
         executeRunnerQuery();
     } else if (m_request == RunTestRequested || m_request == RecordTestRequested) {
diff --git a/src/plugins/squish/squishtools.h b/src/plugins/squish/squishtools.h
index 7b29386ea63..52c6aa4d66f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/squish/squishtools.h
+++ b/src/plugins/squish/squishtools.h
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ private:
     void logAndChangeRunnerState(RunnerState to);
     void logAndChangeToolsState(SquishTools::State to);
     void onServerStateChanged(SquishProcessState state);
-    void onServerStarted();
+    void onServerPortRetrieved();
     void onServerStopped();
     void onServerStartFailed();
     void onServerStopFailed();