diff --git a/qpulse.cpp b/qpulse.cpp
index 9e199f4..bbd5e37 100644
--- a/qpulse.cpp
+++ b/qpulse.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,20 @@ QPulse::QPulse(QObject *parent) :
     ml(pa_threaded_mainloop_new()),
     c(nullptr)
 {
-    pa_threaded_mainloop_start(ml);
+    int start_retries = 5;
+    int err = -1;
+    for(; start_retries --> 0;) {
+        err = pa_threaded_mainloop_start(ml);
+        if (err == 0) {
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Fatal
+    if (err != 0) {
+        perror("pa_threaded_mainloop_start() failure\n");
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }
 
     c = pa_context_new( pa_threaded_mainloop_get_api(ml), "pa-card-profile-tray");
     pa_context_set_state_callback(c, &QPulse::onConnectionStateChangedSt, this);