diff --git a/lib/vmpooler.rb b/lib/vmpooler.rb
index 5d07036..a4b7931 100644
--- a/lib/vmpooler.rb
+++ b/lib/vmpooler.rb
@@ -92,12 +92,9 @@ module Vmpooler
     end
   end
 
-  def self.new_statsd(server, port)
-    if server.nil? || server.empty?
-      nil
-    else
-      Statsd.new server, port
-    end
+  def self.new_statsd(params)
+    return DummyStatsd.new unless params
+    Statsd.new params
   end
 
   def self.pools(conf)
diff --git a/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb b/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb
index a8ef43f..4db1ff1 100644
--- a/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb
+++ b/lib/vmpooler/api/v1.rb
@@ -16,12 +16,6 @@ module Vmpooler
       Vmpooler::API.settings.statsd
     end
 
-    def statsd_prefix
-      if Vmpooler::API.settings.statsd
-        Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:statsd]['prefix'] ? Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:statsd]['prefix'] : 'vmpooler'
-      end
-    end
-
     def config
       Vmpooler::API.settings.config[:config]
     end
@@ -98,11 +92,11 @@ module Vmpooler
           vm, name = fetch_single_vm(requested)
           if !vm
             failed = true
-            statsd.increment(statsd_prefix + '.checkout.empty.' + requested, 1)
+            statsd.increment('checkout.empty.' + requested)
             break
           else
             vms << [ name, vm ]
-            statsd.increment(statsd_prefix + '.checkout.success.' + name, 1)
+            statsd.increment('checkout.success.' + name)
           end
         end
       end
@@ -388,7 +382,7 @@ module Vmpooler
           result = atomically_allocate_vms(payload)
         else
           invalid.each do |bad_template|
-            statsd.increment(statsd_prefix + '.checkout.invalid', bad_template)
+            statsd.increment('checkout.invalid.' + bad_template)
           end
           status 404
         end
@@ -430,7 +424,7 @@ module Vmpooler
           result = atomically_allocate_vms(payload)
         else
           invalid.each do |bad_template|
-            statsd.increment(statsd_prefix + '.checkout.invalid', bad_template)
+            statsd.increment('checkout.invalid.' + bad_template)
           end
           status 404
         end
diff --git a/lib/vmpooler/statsd.rb b/lib/vmpooler/statsd.rb
index b449a59..6db50ad 100644
--- a/lib/vmpooler/statsd.rb
+++ b/lib/vmpooler/statsd.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,48 @@ require 'rubygems' unless defined?(Gem)
 
 module Vmpooler
   class Statsd
-    def initialize(server = 'statsd', port = 8125)
-      @server = Statsd.new(server, port)
+    attr_reader :server, :port, :prefix
+
+    def initialize(params = {})
+      if params[:server].nil? || params[:server].empty?
+        raise ArgumentError, "Statsd server is required. Config: #{params.inspect}"
+      end
+
+      host    = params[:server]
+      port    = params[:port]   || 8125
+      @prefix = params[:prefix] || 'vmpooler'
+      @server = Statsd.new(host, port)
+    end
+
+    def increment(label)
+      server.increment(prefix + "." + label)
+    end
+
+    def gauge(label, value)
+      server.gauge(prefix + "." + label, value)
+    end
+
+    def timing(label, duration)
+      server.timing(prefix + "." + label, duration)
+    end
+  end
+
+  class DummyStatsd
+    attr_reader :server, :port, :prefix
+
+    def initialize(params = {})
+    end
+
+    def increment(label)
+      true
+    end
+
+    def gauge(label, value)
+      true
+    end
+
+    def timing(label, duration)
+      true
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index c401e32..83a5cdf 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ require 'rbvmomi'
 require 'rspec'
 require 'vmpooler'
 require 'redis'
+require 'vmpooler/statsd'
diff --git a/spec/vmpooler/api/v1/vm_spec.rb b/spec/vmpooler/api/v1/vm_spec.rb
index 632dc8b..af2c817 100644
--- a/spec/vmpooler/api/v1/vm_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/vmpooler/api/v1/vm_spec.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ describe Vmpooler::API::V1 do
 
   describe '/vm' do
     let(:prefix) { '/api/v1' }
-    let(:statsd) { double('stats', :increment => true) }
+    let(:statsd) { Vmpooler::DummyStatsd.new }
     let(:config) {
       {
         config: {
diff --git a/spec/vmpooler/api/v1/vm_template_spec.rb b/spec/vmpooler/api/v1/vm_template_spec.rb
index 5719536..7a63626 100644
--- a/spec/vmpooler/api/v1/vm_template_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/vmpooler/api/v1/vm_template_spec.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ describe Vmpooler::API::V1 do
 
   describe '/vm/:template' do
     let(:prefix) { '/api/v1' }
-    let(:statsd) { double('stats', :increment => true) }
+    let(:statsd) { Vmpooler::DummyStatsd.new }
     let(:config) {
       {
         config: {
diff --git a/vmpooler b/vmpooler
index 44ef89c..6bfa5e5 100755
--- a/vmpooler
+++ b/vmpooler
@@ -9,19 +9,10 @@ config = Vmpooler.config
 redis_host = config[:redis]['server']
 logger_file = config[:config]['logfile']
 graphite = config[:graphite]['server'] ? config[:graphite]['server'] : nil
-# statsd is an addition and my not be present in YAML configuration
-if config[:statsd]
-  statsd = config[:statsd]['server'] ? config[:statsd]['server'] : nil
-  statsd_port = config[:statsd]['port'] ? config[:statsd]['port'] : 8125
-end
 
 api = Thread.new {
   thr = Vmpooler::API.new
-  if statsd
-    thr.helpers.configure(config, Vmpooler.new_redis(redis_host), Vmpooler.new_statsd(statsd, statsd_port))
-  else
-    thr.helpers.configure(config, Vmpooler.new_redis(redis_host), statsd=nil)
-  end
+  thr.helpers.configure(config, Vmpooler.new_redis(redis_host), Vmpooler.new_statsd(config[:statsd]))
   thr.helpers.execute!
 }
 
@@ -31,9 +22,8 @@ manager = Thread.new {
     Vmpooler.new_logger(logger_file),
     Vmpooler.new_redis(redis_host),
     Vmpooler.new_graphite(graphite),
-    Vmpooler.new_statsd(statsd, statsd_port)
+    Vmpooler.new_statsd(config[:statsd])
   ).execute!
 }
 
 [api, manager].each { |t| t.join }
-