diff --git a/opm/models/nonlinear/newtonmethod.hh b/opm/models/nonlinear/newtonmethod.hh
index 75380906e..4a0938a8e 100644
--- a/opm/models/nonlinear/newtonmethod.hh
+++ b/opm/models/nonlinear/newtonmethod.hh
@@ -614,6 +614,8 @@ protected:
      */
     void beginIteration_()
     {
+        // start with a clean message stream
+        endIterMsgStream_.str("");
         const auto& comm = simulator_.gridView().comm();
         bool succeeded = true;
         try {
@@ -891,8 +893,6 @@ protected:
                       << " error: " << error_
                       << endIterMsg().str() << "\n" << std::flush;
         }
-
-        endIterMsgStream_.str("");
     }
 
     /*!
diff --git a/opm/models/utils/start.hh b/opm/models/utils/start.hh
index 11fab3f71..ff9ddb595 100644
--- a/opm/models/utils/start.hh
+++ b/opm/models/utils/start.hh
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ static inline void resetTerminal_(int signum)
  * \param argv The array of the command line arguments
  */
 template <class TypeTag>
-static inline int start(int argc, char **argv)
+static inline int start(int argc, char **argv,  bool registerParams=true)
 {
     typedef typename GET_PROP_TYPE(TypeTag, Scalar) Scalar;
     typedef typename GET_PROP_TYPE(TypeTag, Simulator) Simulator;
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ static inline int start(int argc, char **argv)
     int myRank = 0;
     try
     {
-        int paramStatus = setupParameters_<TypeTag>(argc, const_cast<const char**>(argv));
+        int paramStatus = setupParameters_<TypeTag>(argc, const_cast<const char**>(argv), registerParams);
         if (paramStatus == 1)
             return 1;
         if (paramStatus == 2)