diff --git a/src/modules/app_perl/app_perl_mod.c b/src/modules/app_perl/app_perl_mod.c
index 2e3fc3683dc..ce3eff3699e 100644
--- a/src/modules/app_perl/app_perl_mod.c
+++ b/src/modules/app_perl/app_perl_mod.c
@@ -183,24 +183,28 @@ EXTERN_C void xs_init(pTHX) {
  * Initialize the perl interpreter.
  * This might later be used to reinit the module.
  */
-PerlInterpreter *parser_init(void) {
+int parser_init(void) {
 	int argc = 0;
 	char *argv[MAX_LIB_PATHS + 3];
-	PerlInterpreter *new_perl = NULL;
 	char *entry, *stop, *end;
 	int modpathset_start = 0;
 	int modpathset_end = 0;
 	int i;
 	int pr;
 
-	new_perl = perl_alloc();
+	if (my_perl) {
+		LM_ERR("perl interpreter already initialized\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	my_perl = perl_alloc();
 
-	if (!new_perl) {
-		LM_ERR("could not allocate perl.\n");
-		return NULL;
+	if (!my_perl) {
+		LM_ERR("could not allocate perl interpreter\n");
+		return -1;
 	}
 
-	perl_construct(new_perl);
+	perl_construct(my_perl);
 
 	argv[0] = ""; argc++; /* First param _needs_ to be empty */
 
@@ -220,7 +224,10 @@ PerlInterpreter *parser_init(void) {
 					argv[argc] = pkg_malloc(strlen(entry)+20);
 					if (!argv[argc]) {
 						PKG_MEM_ERROR;
-						return NULL;
+						perl_destruct(my_perl);
+						perl_free(my_perl);
+						my_perl = NULL;
+						return -1;
 					}
 					snprintf(argv[argc], strlen(entry)+20, "-I%s", entry);
 					modpathset_end = argc;
@@ -236,7 +243,7 @@ PerlInterpreter *parser_init(void) {
 	argv[argc] = filename; /* The script itself */
 	argc++;
 
-	pr=perl_parse(new_perl, xs_init, argc, argv, NULL);
+	pr=perl_parse(my_perl, xs_init, argc, argv, NULL);
 
 	if (pr) {
 		if(_ap_parse_mode==0) {
@@ -250,9 +257,9 @@ PerlInterpreter *parser_init(void) {
 					pkg_free(argv[i]);
 				}
 			}
-			perl_destruct(new_perl);
-			perl_free(new_perl);
-			return NULL;
+			perl_destruct(my_perl);
+			perl_free(my_perl);
+			my_perl = NULL;
 		}
 	} else {
 		LM_INFO("successfully parsed perl file \"%s\"\n", argv[argc-1]);
@@ -263,21 +270,26 @@ PerlInterpreter *parser_init(void) {
 			pkg_free(argv[i]);
 		}
 	}
-	pr = perl_run(new_perl);
+	pr = perl_run(my_perl);
 	LM_INFO("perl run return code %d\n", pr);
 
-	return new_perl;
+	return 0;
 
 }
 
 /*
  *
  */
-int unload_perl(PerlInterpreter *p) {
+int unload_perl(void) {
+	if (!my_perl) {
+		LM_ERR("perl interpreter not initialized\n");
+		return -1;
+	}
 	/* clean and reset everything */
 	PL_perl_destruct_level = 1;
-	perl_destruct(p);
-	perl_free(p);
+	perl_destruct(my_perl);
+	perl_free(my_perl);
+	my_perl = NULL;
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -291,9 +303,9 @@ int unload_perl(PerlInterpreter *p) {
 int perl_reload(void)
 {
 	if(my_perl) {
-		unload_perl(my_perl);
+		unload_perl();
 	}
-	my_perl = parser_init();
+	parser_init();
 
 	if(my_perl) {
 		LM_DBG("new perl interpreter initialized\n");
@@ -353,7 +365,7 @@ static int mod_init(void) {
 	PERL_SYS_INIT3(&argc, &argv, &environ);
 
 	gettimeofday(&t1, NULL);
-	my_perl = parser_init();
+	parser_init();
 	gettimeofday(&t2, NULL);
 
 	if (my_perl==NULL)
@@ -389,7 +401,7 @@ static void destroy(void)
 
 	if(my_perl==NULL)
 		return;
-	unload_perl(my_perl);
+	unload_perl();
 	PERL_SYS_TERM();
 	my_perl = NULL;
 }