diff --git a/shadowsocks/server.py b/shadowsocks/server.py
index e25db4c..d4cf961 100755
--- a/shadowsocks/server.py
+++ b/shadowsocks/server.py
@@ -42,12 +42,13 @@ def main():
                          'will be ignored')
     else:
         config['port_password'] = {}
-        server_port = config['server_port']
-        if type(server_port) == list:
-            for a_server_port in server_port:
-                config['port_password'][a_server_port] = config['password']
-        else:
-            config['port_password'][str(server_port)] = config['password']
+        server_port = config.get('server_port', None)
+        if server_port:
+            if type(server_port) == list:
+                for a_server_port in server_port:
+                    config['port_password'][a_server_port] = config['password']
+            else:
+                config['port_password'][str(server_port)] = config['password']
 
     if config.get('manager_address', 0):
         logging.info('entering manager mode')
diff --git a/shadowsocks/shell.py b/shadowsocks/shell.py
index c91fc22..a78e18f 100644
--- a/shadowsocks/shell.py
+++ b/shadowsocks/shell.py
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@ def check_config(config, is_local):
         sys.exit(2)
 
     if not is_local and not config.get('password', None) \
-            and not config.get('port_password', None):
+            and not config.get('port_password', None) \
+            and not config.get('manager_address'):
         logging.error('password or port_password not specified')
         print_help(is_local)
         sys.exit(2)
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ def check_config(config, is_local):
     if 'local_port' in config:
         config['local_port'] = int(config['local_port'])
 
-    if 'server_port' in config and type(config['server_port']) != list:
+    if config.get('server_port', None) and type(config['server_port']) != list:
         config['server_port'] = int(config['server_port'])
 
     if config.get('local_address', '') in [b'0.0.0.0']:
@@ -240,7 +241,7 @@ def get_config(is_local):
         except Exception as e:
             logging.error(e)
             sys.exit(2)
-    config['server_port'] = config.get('server_port', 8388)
+    config['server_port'] = config.get('server_port', None)
 
     logging.getLogger('').handlers = []
     logging.addLevelName(VERBOSE_LEVEL, 'VERBOSE')
diff --git a/tests/server-multi-passwd-empty.json b/tests/server-multi-passwd-empty.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de354e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/server-multi-passwd-empty.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+    "server": "127.0.0.1",
+    "local_port": 1081,
+    "port_password": {
+    },
+    "timeout": 60,
+    "method": "aes-256-cfb"
+}