diff --git a/lib/akephalos/capybara.rb b/lib/akephalos/capybara.rb
index b33430c..23564f4 100644
--- a/lib/akephalos/capybara.rb
+++ b/lib/akephalos/capybara.rb
@@ -162,11 +162,6 @@ def select_node
 
   attr_reader :app, :rack_server
 
-  # @return [Client] an instance of Akephalos::Client
-  def self.driver
-    @driver ||= Akephalos::Client.new
-  end
-
   def initialize(app)
     @app = app
     @rack_server = Capybara::Server.new(@app)
@@ -271,7 +266,7 @@ def page
 
   # @return the browser
   def browser
-    self.class.driver
+    @browser ||= Akephalos::Client.new
   end
 
   # @return the session cookies
diff --git a/lib/akephalos/client.rb b/lib/akephalos/client.rb
index 48c3e47..15254b8 100644
--- a/lib/akephalos/client.rb
+++ b/lib/akephalos/client.rb
@@ -35,16 +35,6 @@ def initialize
         Thread.new { @_client.run }
       end
 
-      # Set the global configuration settings for Akephalos.
-      #
-      # @note This is only used when communicating over DRb, since just a
-      # single client instance is exposed.
-      # @param [Hash] config the configuration settings
-      # @return [Hash] the configuration
-      def configuration=(config)
-        Akephalos.configuration = config
-      end
-
       # Visit the requested URL and return the page.
       #
       # @param [String] url the URL to load
diff --git a/lib/akephalos/remote_client.rb b/lib/akephalos/remote_client.rb
index 1fbc94b..a277927 100644
--- a/lib/akephalos/remote_client.rb
+++ b/lib/akephalos/remote_client.rb
@@ -15,23 +15,31 @@ module Akephalos
   #     client.visit "http://www.oinopa.com"
   #     client.page.source # => "<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC..."
   class RemoteClient
-    # Start a remote akephalos server and return the remote Akephalos::Client
-    # instance.
-    #
-    # @return [DRbObject] the remote client instance
+    # @return [DRbObject] a new instance of Akephalos::Client from the DRb
+    #   server
     def self.new
+      manager.new_client
+    end
+
+    # Starts a remove JRuby DRb server unless already running and returns an
+    # instance of Akephalos::ClientManager.
+    #
+    # @returns [DRbObject] an instance of Akephalos::ClientManager
+    def self.manager
+      return @manager if defined?(@manager)
+
       server_port = start!
 
-      DRb.start_service("druby://127.0.0.1:#{find_available_port}")
-      client = DRbObject.new_with_uri("druby://127.0.0.1:#{server_port}")
+      DRb.start_service
+      manager = DRbObject.new_with_uri("druby://127.0.0.1:#{server_port}")
 
       # We want to share our local configuration with the remote server
       # process, so we share an undumped version of our configuration. This
       # lets us continue to make changes locally and have them reflected in the
       # remote process.
-      client.configuration = Akephalos.configuration.extend(DRbUndumped)
+      manager.configuration = Akephalos.configuration.extend(DRbUndumped)
 
-      client
+      @manager = manager
     end
 
     # Start a remote server process and return when it is available for use.
diff --git a/lib/akephalos/server.rb b/lib/akephalos/server.rb
index 805bafd..cfa7c5f 100644
--- a/lib/akephalos/server.rb
+++ b/lib/akephalos/server.rb
@@ -23,16 +23,39 @@ def _dump
 
 module Akephalos
 
+  # The ClientManager is shared over DRb with the remote process, and
+  # facilitates communication between the processes.
+  #
+  # @api private
+  class ClientManager
+    include DRbUndumped
+
+    # @return [Akephalos::Client] a new client instance
+    def self.new_client
+      # Store the client to ensure it isn't prematurely garbage collected.
+      @client = Client.new
+    end
+
+    # Set the global configuration settings for Akephalos.
+    #
+    # @param [Hash] config the configuration settings
+    # @return [Hash] the configuration
+    def self.configuration=(config)
+      Akephalos.configuration = config
+    end
+
+  end
+
   # Akephalos::Server is used by `akephalos --server` to start a DRb server
-  # serving an instance of Akephalos::Client.
+  # serving Akephalos::ClientManager.
   class Server
-    # Start DRb service for an Akephalos::Client.
+
+    # Start DRb service for Akephalos::ClientManager.
     #
     # @param [String] port attach server to
     def self.start!(port)
       abort_on_parent_exit!
-      client = Client.new
-      DRb.start_service("druby://127.0.0.1:#{port}", client)
+      DRb.start_service("druby://127.0.0.1:#{port}", ClientManager)
       DRb.thread.join
     end
 
