diff --git a/apps/addressbook/java/src/net/i2p/addressbook/SubscriptionIterator.java b/apps/addressbook/java/src/net/i2p/addressbook/SubscriptionIterator.java
index b8b1df28b1d8814d754c9094c5681ca80baa9df3..74e946f953c2c92063bee805a6829d8235b87d48 100644
--- a/apps/addressbook/java/src/net/i2p/addressbook/SubscriptionIterator.java
+++ b/apps/addressbook/java/src/net/i2p/addressbook/SubscriptionIterator.java
@@ -76,7 +76,8 @@ class SubscriptionIterator implements Iterator<AddressBook> {
     public AddressBook next() {
         Subscription sub = this.subIterator.next();
         if (sub.getLastFetched() + this.delay < I2PAppContext.getGlobalContext().clock().now() &&
-            I2PAppContext.getGlobalContext().portMapper().getPort(PortMapper.SVC_HTTP_PROXY) >= 0) {
+            I2PAppContext.getGlobalContext().portMapper().getPort(PortMapper.SVC_HTTP_PROXY) >= 0 &&
+            !I2PAppContext.getGlobalContext().getBooleanProperty("i2p.vmCommSystem")) {
             //System.err.println("Fetching addressbook from " + sub.getLocation());
             return new AddressBook(sub, this.proxyHost, this.proxyPort);
         } else {
diff --git a/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/update/NewsFetcher.java b/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/update/NewsFetcher.java
index 44ab24e3ccee375b570ce44b591a7806882296d8..209d912539650d01d63cc90c77c5054118948264 100644
--- a/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/update/NewsFetcher.java
+++ b/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/update/NewsFetcher.java
@@ -99,6 +99,11 @@ class NewsFetcher extends UpdateRunner {
                 _log.warn("Cannot fetch news - HTTP client tunnel not running");
             return;
         }
+        if (shouldProxy && _context.commSystem().isDummy()) {
+            if (_log.shouldWarn())
+                _log.warn("Cannot fetch news - VM Comm system");
+            return;
+        }
 
         for (URI uri : _urls) {
             _currentURI = addLang(uri);
diff --git a/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/web/PluginStarter.java b/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/web/PluginStarter.java
index d0a6277e0139456ee67cbc26d207efdad04c601e..608de2aea317e96976d4a3f12cb341acdba3bdb5 100644
--- a/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/web/PluginStarter.java
+++ b/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/web/PluginStarter.java
@@ -157,6 +157,12 @@ public class PluginStarter implements Runnable {
                                      Messages.getString("HTTP client proxy tunnel must be running", ctx));
             return;
         }
+        if (ctx.commSystem().isDummy()) {
+            mgr.notifyComplete(null, Messages.getString("Plugin update check failed", ctx) +
+                                     " - " +
+                                     "VM Comm System");
+            return;
+        }
 
         Log log = ctx.logManager().getLog(PluginStarter.class);
         int updated = 0;