diff --git a/client.c b/client.c
index c72f034..fb678e1 100644
--- a/client.c
+++ b/client.c
@@ -58,8 +58,9 @@
 	Client_created		= 0,
 	Client_connected	= 1,
 	Client_started		= 2,
-	Client_stopped		= 3,
-	Client_exited		= 4,
+	Client_running		= 3,
+	Client_stopped		= 4,
+	Client_exited		= 5,
 };
 
 static FLIST_HEAD(client_list);
@@ -824,6 +825,10 @@
 		handle_probe(client, cmd);
 		free(cmd);
 		break;
+	case FIO_NET_CMD_RUN:
+		client->state = Client_running;
+		free(cmd);
+		break;
 	case FIO_NET_CMD_START:
 		client->state = Client_started;
 		free(cmd);
@@ -861,6 +866,8 @@
 			skipped++;
 			continue;
 		}
+		if (client->state != Client_running)
+			continue;
 
 		assert(!client->eta_in_flight);
 		flist_add_tail(&client->eta_list, &eta_list);
diff --git a/server.c b/server.c
index e7a9057..c1ced42 100644
--- a/server.c
+++ b/server.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 static char *fio_server_arg;
 static char *bind_sock;
 static struct sockaddr_in saddr_in;
+static int first_cmd_check;
 
 static const char *fio_server_ops[FIO_NET_CMD_NR] = {
 	"",
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@
 	"START",
 	"STOP",
 	"DISK_UTIL",
+	"RUN",
 };
 
 const char *fio_server_op(unsigned int op)
@@ -539,6 +541,8 @@
 
 void fio_server_idle_loop(void)
 {
+	if (!first_cmd_check)
+		fio_net_send_simple_cmd(server_fd, FIO_NET_CMD_RUN, 0, NULL);
 	if (server_fd != -1)
 		handle_connection(server_fd, 0);
 }
diff --git a/server.h b/server.h
index d709e98..da520e3 100644
--- a/server.h
+++ b/server.h
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 };
 
 enum {
-	FIO_SERVER_VER		= 5,
+	FIO_SERVER_VER		= 6,
 
 	FIO_SERVER_MAX_PDU	= 1024,
 
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@
 	FIO_NET_CMD_START	= 11,
 	FIO_NET_CMD_STOP	= 12,
 	FIO_NET_CMD_DU		= 13,
-	FIO_NET_CMD_NR		= 14,
+	FIO_NET_CMD_RUN		= 14,
+	FIO_NET_CMD_NR		= 15,
 
 	FIO_NET_CMD_F_MORE	= 1UL << 0,