diff --git a/app/src/processing/app/Serial.java b/app/src/processing/app/Serial.java
index 0bab1a655..14c0933c0 100755
--- a/app/src/processing/app/Serial.java
+++ b/app/src/processing/app/Serial.java
@@ -102,20 +102,17 @@ public class Serial implements SerialPortEventListener {
   }
 
   public static boolean touchPort(String iname, int irate) throws SerialException {
+    SerialPort port;
+    boolean result = false;
     try {
       Enumeration portList = CommPortIdentifier.getPortIdentifiers();
       while (portList.hasMoreElements()) {
         CommPortIdentifier portId = (CommPortIdentifier) portList.nextElement();
         if ((CommPortIdentifier.PORT_SERIAL == portId.getPortType()) && (portId.getName().equals(iname))) {
-          final SerialPort port = (SerialPort) portId.open("tap", 2000);
+          port = (SerialPort) portId.open("tap", 2000);
           port.setSerialPortParams(irate, 8, SerialPort.STOPBITS_1, SerialPort.PARITY_NONE);
-          // Sometime the port close takes a lot to complete, so we run it in a parallel thread
-          new Thread() {
-            public void run() {
-              port.close();				
-            };
-          }.start();
-          return true;
+          port.close();				
+          result = true;
         }
       }
     } catch (PortInUseException e) {
@@ -127,7 +124,7 @@ public class Serial implements SerialPortEventListener {
         I18n.format(_("Error touching serial port ''{0}''."), iname), e
       );
     }
-    return false;
+	return result;
   }
 
   public Serial(String iname, int irate,