diff --git a/examples/server/bench/bench.py b/examples/server/bench/bench.py
index bfad8d115..5cc6f92ab 100644
--- a/examples/server/bench/bench.py
+++ b/examples/server/bench/bench.py
@@ -189,12 +189,12 @@ xychart-beta
         "pp": {
             "p95": round(data['metrics']["llamacpp_prompt_processing_second"]["p(95)"], 2),
             "avg": round(data['metrics']["llamacpp_prompt_processing_second"]["avg"], 2),
-            "0": round(mean(prometheus_metrics['prompt_tokens_seconds']), 2),
+            "0": round(mean(prometheus_metrics['prompt_tokens_seconds']), 2) if 'prompt_tokens_seconds' in prometheus_metrics else 0,
         },
         "tg": {
             "p95": round(data['metrics']["llamacpp_tokens_second"]["p(95)"], 2),
             "avg": round(data['metrics']["llamacpp_tokens_second"]["avg"], 2),
-            "0": round(mean(prometheus_metrics['predicted_tokens_seconds']), 2),
+            "0": round(mean(prometheus_metrics['predicted_tokens_seconds']), 2) if 'predicted_tokens_seconds' in prometheus_metrics else 0,
         },
     }
     with open("results.github.env", 'a') as github_env:
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ def start_server(args):
     server_process = start_server_background(args)
 
     attempts = 0
-    max_attempts = 20
+    max_attempts = 600
     if 'GITHUB_ACTIONS' in os.environ:
         max_attempts *= 2
 
@@ -245,7 +245,15 @@ def start_server(args):
         print(f"bench:     waiting for server to start ...")
         time.sleep(0.5)
 
-    print("bench: server started.")
+    attempts = 0
+    while not is_server_ready(args.host, args.port):
+        attempts += 1
+        if attempts > max_attempts:
+            assert False, "server not ready"
+        print(f"bench:     waiting for server to be ready ...")
+        time.sleep(0.5)
+
+    print("bench: server started and ready.")
     return server_process
 
 
@@ -258,11 +266,6 @@ def start_server_background(args):
         '--host', args.host,
         '--port', args.port,
     ]
-    model_file = args.model_path_prefix + os.path.sep + args.hf_file
-    model_dir  = os.path.dirname(model_file)
-    if not os.path.exists(model_dir):
-        os.makedirs(model_dir)
-    server_args.extend(['--model', model_file])
     server_args.extend(['--hf-repo', args.hf_repo])
     server_args.extend(['--hf-file', args.hf_file])
     server_args.extend(['--n-gpu-layers', args.n_gpu_layers])
@@ -306,6 +309,12 @@ def is_server_listening(server_fqdn, server_port):
         return _is_server_listening
 
 
+def is_server_ready(server_fqdn, server_port):
+    url = f"http://{server_fqdn}:{server_port}/health"
+    response = requests.get(url)
+    return response.status_code == 200
+
+
 def escape_metric_name(metric_name):
     return re.sub('[^A-Z0-9]', '_', metric_name.upper())