diff --git a/httpd.c b/httpd.c
index 52684cf..e2cfbb0 100644
--- a/httpd.c
+++ b/httpd.c
@@ -537,8 +537,8 @@ static void *background_thread(void *arg)
 void httpd(void)
 /* starts the server */
 {
-    char *address;
-    int port;
+    const char *address;
+    const char *port;
     int rs;
     pthread_t threads[MAX_THREADS] = {0};
     int n_threads = 0;
@@ -548,10 +548,10 @@ void httpd(void)
     sem_t anon_job_sem;
 
     address = xs_dict_get(srv_config, "address");
-    port    = xs_number_get(xs_dict_get(srv_config, "port"));
+    port    = xs_number_str(xs_dict_get(srv_config, "port"));
 
     if ((rs = xs_socket_server(address, port)) == -1) {
-        srv_log(xs_fmt("cannot bind socket to %s:%d", address, port));
+        srv_log(xs_fmt("cannot bind socket to %s:%s", address, port));
         return;
     }
 
@@ -561,7 +561,7 @@ void httpd(void)
     signal(SIGTERM, term_handler);
     signal(SIGINT,  term_handler);
 
-    srv_log(xs_fmt("httpd start %s:%d %s", address, port, USER_AGENT));
+    srv_log(xs_fmt("httpd start %s:%s %s", address, port, USER_AGENT));
 
     /* show the number of usable file descriptors */
     struct rlimit r;
@@ -648,5 +648,5 @@ void httpd(void)
 
     xs *uptime = xs_str_time_diff(time(NULL) - start_time);
 
-    srv_log(xs_fmt("httpd stop %s:%d (run time: %s)", address, port, uptime));
+    srv_log(xs_fmt("httpd stop %s:%s (run time: %s)", address, port, uptime));
 }
diff --git a/xs_socket.h b/xs_socket.h
index a2f9cb6..eea2f2d 100644
--- a/xs_socket.h
+++ b/xs_socket.h
@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
 #define _XS_SOCKET_H
 
 int xs_socket_timeout(int s, double rto, double sto);
-int xs_socket_server_serv(const char *addr, const char *serv);
-int xs_socket_server(const char *addr, int port);
+int xs_socket_server(const char *addr, const char *serv);
 FILE *xs_socket_accept(int rs);
 xs_str *xs_socket_peername(int s);
 int xs_socket_connect(const char *addr, const char *serv);
@@ -44,7 +43,7 @@ int xs_socket_timeout(int s, double rto, double sto)
 }
 
 
-int xs_socket_server_serv(const char *addr, const char *serv)
+int xs_socket_server(const char *addr, const char *serv)
 /* opens a server socket by service name (or port as string) */
 {
     int rs = -1;
@@ -88,16 +87,6 @@ end:
 }
 
 
-int xs_socket_server(const char *addr, int port)
-/* opens a server socket (port as integer) */
-{
-    char serv[32];
-
-    snprintf(serv, sizeof(serv), "%d", port);
-    return xs_socket_server_serv(addr, serv);
-}
-
-
 FILE *xs_socket_accept(int rs)
 /* accepts an incoming connection */
 {
diff --git a/xs_version.h b/xs_version.h
index 752e1be..d0c2fb5 100644
--- a/xs_version.h
+++ b/xs_version.h
@@ -1 +1 @@
-/* 89589de72ce632da77b0ac4b9d56d3902946b5eb */
+/* b5831045cfd18e95352e5108cd47386510bf060d */