diff --git a/shortfin/python/shortfin_apps/sd/server.py b/shortfin/python/shortfin_apps/sd/server.py
index 9b9da3a73..51e8becbe 100644
--- a/shortfin/python/shortfin_apps/sd/server.py
+++ b/shortfin/python/shortfin_apps/sd/server.py
@@ -275,6 +275,16 @@ def get_modules(args, model_config, flagfile, td_spec):
     return vmfbs, params
 
 
+def is_port_valid(port):
+    max_port = 65535
+    if port < 1 or port > max_port:
+        print(
+            f"Error: Invalid port specified ({port}), expected a value between 1 and {max_port}"
+        )
+        return False
+    return True
+
+
 def main(argv, log_config=UVICORN_LOG_CONFIG):
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     parser.add_argument("--host", type=str, default=None)
@@ -403,6 +413,9 @@ def main(argv, log_config=UVICORN_LOG_CONFIG):
         help="Use tunings for attention and matmul ops. 0 to disable.",
     )
     args = parser.parse_args(argv)
+    if not is_port_valid(args.port):
+        exit(3)
+
     if not args.artifacts_dir:
         home = Path.home()
         artdir = home / ".cache" / "shark"
diff --git a/shortfin/python/shortfin_apps/sd/simple_client.py b/shortfin/python/shortfin_apps/sd/simple_client.py
index 0d88a59c7..46b204067 100644
--- a/shortfin/python/shortfin_apps/sd/simple_client.py
+++ b/shortfin/python/shortfin_apps/sd/simple_client.py
@@ -177,7 +177,15 @@ async def async_range(count):
         await asyncio.sleep(0.0)
 
 
-def check_health(url):
+def is_connected(host, port):
+    max_port = 65535
+    if port < 1 or port > max_port:
+        print(
+            f"Error: Invalid port specified ({port}), expected a value between 1 and {max_port}"
+        )
+        return False
+
+    url = f"{host}:{port}"
     ready = False
     print("Waiting for server.", end=None)
     while not ready:
@@ -192,6 +200,8 @@ def check_health(url):
             time.sleep(2)
             print(".", end=None)
 
+    return True
+
 
 def main():
     p = argparse.ArgumentParser()
@@ -222,7 +232,7 @@ def main():
     p.add_argument(
         "--host", type=str, default="http://0.0.0.0", help="Server host address."
     )
-    p.add_argument("--port", type=str, default="8000", help="Server port")
+    p.add_argument("--port", type=int, default=8000, help="Server port")
     p.add_argument(
         "--steps",
         type=int,
@@ -235,7 +245,10 @@ def main():
         help="Start as an example CLI client instead of sending static requests.",
     )
     args = p.parse_args()
-    check_health(f"{args.host}:{args.port}")
+
+    if not is_connected(args.host, args.port):
+        exit(3)
+
     if args.interactive:
         asyncio.run(interactive(args))
     else: