diff --git a/bin/oslo-zmq-receiver b/bin/oslo-zmq-receiver
index 4ef24b6d0..00f4a85e0 100755
--- a/bin/oslo-zmq-receiver
+++ b/bin/oslo-zmq-receiver
@@ -47,28 +47,7 @@ CONF(sys.argv[1:], project='oslo')
 def main():
     logging.setup("oslo")
 
-    ipc_dir = CONF.rpc_zmq_ipc_dir
-
-    # Create the necessary directories/files for this service.
-    if not os.path.isdir(ipc_dir):
-        try:
-            utils.execute('mkdir', '-p', ipc_dir, run_as_root=True)
-            utils.execute('chown', "%s:%s" % (os.getuid(), os.getgid()),
-                          ipc_dir, run_as_root=True)
-            utils.execute('chmod', '750', ipc_dir, run_as_root=True)
-        except exception.ProcessExecutionError:
-            logging.error(_("Could not create IPC socket directory."))
-            return
-
     with contextlib.closing(impl_zmq.ZmqProxy(CONF)) as reactor:
-        consume_in = "tcp://%s:%s" % \
-            (CONF.rpc_zmq_bind_address,
-             CONF.rpc_zmq_port)
-        consumption_proxy = impl_zmq.InternalContext(None)
-
-        reactor.register(consumption_proxy,
-                         consume_in, zmq.PULL, out_bind=True)
-
         reactor.consume_in_thread()
         reactor.wait()
 
diff --git a/openstack/common/rpc/impl_zmq.py b/openstack/common/rpc/impl_zmq.py
index d595212b1..4df0abab4 100644
--- a/openstack/common/rpc/impl_zmq.py
+++ b/openstack/common/rpc/impl_zmq.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #    under the License.
 
 import pprint
+import os
 import socket
 import string
 import sys
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ from openstack.common import cfg
 from openstack.common.gettextutils import _
 from openstack.common import importutils
 from openstack.common import jsonutils
+from openstack.common import processutils as utils
 from openstack.common.rpc import common as rpc_common
 
 
@@ -487,6 +489,37 @@ class ZmqProxy(ZmqBaseReactor):
             LOG.error(_("Local per-topic backlog buffer full for topic "
                         "%(topic)s. Dropping message.") % {'topic': topic})
 
+    def consume_in_thread(self):
+        """Runs the ZmqProxy service"""
+        ipc_dir = CONF.rpc_zmq_ipc_dir
+        consume_in = "tcp://%s:%s" % \
+            (CONF.rpc_zmq_bind_address,
+             CONF.rpc_zmq_port)
+        consumption_proxy = InternalContext(None)
+
+        if not os.path.isdir(ipc_dir):
+            try:
+                utils.execute('mkdir', '-p', ipc_dir, run_as_root=True)
+                utils.execute('chown', "%s:%s" % (os.getuid(), os.getgid()),
+                              ipc_dir, run_as_root=True)
+                utils.execute('chmod', '750', ipc_dir, run_as_root=True)
+            except utils.ProcessExecutionError:
+                LOG.error(_("Could not create IPC directory %s") %
+                          (ipc_dir, ))
+                raise
+
+        try:
+            self.register(consumption_proxy,
+                          consume_in,
+                          zmq.PULL,
+                          out_bind=True)
+        except zmq.ZMQError:
+            LOG.error(_("Could not create ZeroMQ receiver daemon. "
+                        "Socket may already be in use."))
+            raise
+
+        super(ZmqProxy, self).consume_in_thread()
+
 
 class ZmqReactor(ZmqBaseReactor):
     """
diff --git a/tests/unit/rpc/test_zmq.py b/tests/unit/rpc/test_zmq.py
index d43c3846a..d120bb20b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/rpc/test_zmq.py
+++ b/tests/unit/rpc/test_zmq.py
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ class _RpcZmqBaseTestCase(common.BaseRpcTestCase):
             self.config(rpc_zmq_ipc_dir=internal_ipc_dir)
 
             LOG.info(_("Running internal zmq receiver."))
-            self.setup_receiver(internal_ipc_dir)
+            reactor = impl_zmq.ZmqProxy(FLAGS)
+            reactor.consume_in_thread()
         else:
             LOG.warning(_("Detected zmq-receiver socket."))
             LOG.warning(_("Assuming nova-rpc-zmq-receiver is running."))
@@ -84,32 +85,6 @@ class _RpcZmqBaseTestCase(common.BaseRpcTestCase):
         super(_RpcZmqBaseTestCase, self).setUp(
             topic=topic, topic_nested=topic_nested)
 
-    def setup_receiver(self, ipc_dir):
-        # Only launch the receiver if it isn't running independently.
-        # This is checked again, with the (possibly) new ipc_dir.
-        if not os.path.isdir(ipc_dir):
-            try:
-                os.mkdir(ipc_dir)
-            except OSError:
-                LOG.error(_("Could not create IPC directory %s") % (ipc_dir, ))
-                raise
-        try:
-            self.reactor = impl_zmq.ZmqProxy(FLAGS)
-            consume_in = "tcp://%s:%s" % \
-                (FLAGS.rpc_zmq_bind_address,
-                 FLAGS.rpc_zmq_port)
-            consumption_proxy = impl_zmq.InternalContext(None)
-
-            self.reactor.register(consumption_proxy,
-                                  consume_in,
-                                  zmq.PULL,
-                                  out_bind=True)
-            self.reactor.consume_in_thread()
-        except zmq.ZMQError:
-            LOG.error(_("Could not create ZeroMQ receiver daemon. "
-                        "Socket may already be in use."))
-            raise
-
     @testutils.skip_if(not impl_zmq, "ZeroMQ library required")
     def tearDown(self):
         if self.reactor: