diff --git a/riot/start.sh b/riot/start.sh
index 3e5077717e..5feb40eb2b 100644
--- a/riot/start.sh
+++ b/riot/start.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
+PORT=8080
+echo "running riot on http://localhost:$PORT..."
 BASE_DIR=$(realpath $(dirname $0))
 pushd $BASE_DIR > /dev/null
 pushd riot-web/webapp/ > /dev/null
-python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8080 > /dev/null 2>&1 &
+python -m SimpleHTTPServer $PORT > /dev/null 2>&1 &
 PID=$!
 popd > /dev/null
 echo $PID > riot.pid
diff --git a/start.js b/start.js
index d4b8dab076..a37aa4538a 100644
--- a/start.js
+++ b/start.js
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ global.riotserver = 'http://localhost:8080';
 global.browser = null;
 
 async function runTests() {
+  console.log("running tests ...");
   global.browser = await puppeteer.launch();
   const page = await helpers.newPage();