diff --git a/ipapython/dogtag.py b/ipapython/dogtag.py
index ec3f2beb8..ea769b027 100644
--- a/ipapython/dogtag.py
+++ b/ipapython/dogtag.py
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ def get_ca_certchain(ca_host=None, dogtag_constants=None):
     return chain
 
 
-def ca_status(ca_host=None):
+def ca_status(ca_host=None, use_proxy=True):
     """Return the status of the CA, and the httpd proxy in front of it
 
     The returned status can be:
@@ -194,9 +194,13 @@ def ca_status(ca_host=None):
     """
     if ca_host is None:
         ca_host = api.env.ca_host
-    # Use port 443 to test the proxy as well
+    if use_proxy:
+        # Use port 443 to test the proxy as well
+        ca_port = 443
+    else:
+        ca_port = 8443
     status, reason, headers, body = unauthenticated_https_request(
-        ca_host, 443, '/ca/admin/ca/getStatus')
+        ca_host, ca_port, '/ca/admin/ca/getStatus')
     if status == 503:
         # Service temporarily unavailable
         return reason
diff --git a/ipapython/platform/fedora16/service.py b/ipapython/platform/fedora16/service.py
index 36e7a31c4..edf2d7ff8 100644
--- a/ipapython/platform/fedora16/service.py
+++ b/ipapython/platform/fedora16/service.py
@@ -143,17 +143,18 @@ class Fedora16CAService(Fedora16Service):
         # Unfortunately, knownservices.httpd.is_installed() can return
         # false positives, so check for existence of our configuration file.
         # TODO: Use a cleaner solution
+        use_proxy = True
         if not (os.path.exists('/etc/httpd/conf.d/ipa.conf') and
                 os.path.exists('/etc/httpd/conf.d/ipa-pki-proxy.conf')):
             root_logger.debug(
-                'The httpd proxy is not installed, skipping wait for CA')
-            return
+                'The httpd proxy is not installed, wait on local port')
+            use_proxy = False
         root_logger.debug('Waiting until the CA is running')
         timeout = api.env.startup_timeout
         op_timeout = time.time() + timeout
         while time.time() < op_timeout:
             try:
-                status = dogtag.ca_status()
+                status = dogtag.ca_status(use_proxy=use_proxy)
             except Exception:
                 status = 'check interrupted'
             root_logger.debug('The CA status is: %s' % status)