diff --git a/utils/rtpengine-ctl b/utils/rtpengine-ctl
index 5d1e8dae6..feb454e48 100755
--- a/utils/rtpengine-ctl
+++ b/utils/rtpengine-ctl
@@ -33,13 +33,16 @@ if (-f $conffile) {
     }
 }
 
-if ($ip && $ip =~ s/:(\d+)$//) {
+if ($ip && $ip =~ s/:(\d+)$// && !$port) {
     $port = $1;
 }
 
 my $argumentstring = "@ARGV";
 $argumentstring = trim($argumentstring);
 
+$ip //= '127.0.0.1';
+$port //= 9900;
+
 if (!$argumentstring || !$optret || $port <= 0 || $port > 65535) {
     showusage();
     exit 1;