diff --git a/core/AuxTaskRT.cpp b/core/AuxTaskRT.cpp
index 4bd312d0a..895a3a92b 100644
--- a/core/AuxTaskRT.cpp
+++ b/core/AuxTaskRT.cpp
@@ -4,34 +4,58 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <vector>
 #include <string.h>
+
 AuxTaskRT::~AuxTaskRT()
 {
 	lShouldStop = true;
-	struct timespec absoluteTimeout = {0, 0};
-	// non blocking write, so if the queue is full it won't fail
-	char c = 0;
-	int ret = BELA_RT_WRAP(mq_timedsend(queueDesc, &c, sizeof(c), 0, &absoluteTimeout));
-	if(ret)
-		fprintf(stderr, "Error mq_timedsend: %d %s\n", errno, strerror(errno));
+	if(queueValid)
+	{
+		struct timespec absoluteTimeout = {0, 0};
+		// non blocking write, so if the queue is full it won't fail
+		char c = 0;
+		int ret = BELA_RT_WRAP(mq_timedsend(queueDesc, &c, sizeof(c), 0, &absoluteTimeout));
+		if(ret)
+			fprintf(stderr, "Error mq_timedsend: %d %s\n", errno, strerror(errno));
+	}
 	join();
-	ret = BELA_RT_WRAP(mq_close(queueDesc));
-	if(ret)
-		fprintf(stderr, "Error closing queueDesc: %d %s\n", errno, strerror(errno));
-	ret = BELA_RT_WRAP(mq_unlink(queueName.c_str()));
-	if(ret)
-		fprintf(stderr, "Error unlinking queue: %d %s\n", errno, strerror(errno));
+	if(queueValid)
+	{
+		int ret = BELA_RT_WRAP(mq_close(queueDesc));
+		if(ret)
+			fprintf(stderr, "Error closing queueDesc: %d %s\n", errno, strerror(errno));
+		ret = BELA_RT_WRAP(mq_unlink(queueName.c_str()));
+		if(ret)
+			fprintf(stderr, "Error unlinking queue: %d %s\n", errno, strerror(errno));
+	}
 }
 
 int AuxTaskRT::commsInit()
 {
 	// create a queue, with prefixed name
-	queueName = std::string("/q_") + name;
+	queueName = std::string("/q_") + name + std::to_string((long long unsigned)(this));
 	struct mq_attr attr;
 	attr.mq_maxmsg = 100;
 	attr.mq_msgsize = 100000;
-	queueDesc = BELA_RT_WRAP(mq_open(queueName.c_str(), O_CREAT | O_RDWR, 0644, &attr));
-	if((mqd_t)-1 == queueDesc)
+	// first try with our desired queue properties, failing that try with the system defaults
+	for(auto& ptr : {&attr, (struct mq_attr*)nullptr})
+	{
+		queueDesc = BELA_RT_WRAP(mq_open(queueName.c_str(), O_CREAT | O_RDWR, 0644, ptr));
+		queueValid = ((mqd_t)-1 != queueDesc);
+		if(queueValid)
+		{
+			break;
+		} else {
+			if(&attr == ptr)
+			{
+				fprintf(stderr, "Opening queue %s with desired settings failed, trying with system defaults\n", queueName.c_str());
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if(!queueValid)
+	{
+		fprintf(stderr, "Error creating queue %s: %d %s\n", queueName.c_str(), errno, strerror(errno));
 		return 1;
+	}
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/include/AuxTaskRT.h b/include/AuxTaskRT.h
index 080c67ba1..8e2837ec3 100644
--- a/include/AuxTaskRT.h
+++ b/include/AuxTaskRT.h
@@ -18,5 +18,6 @@ class AuxTaskRT : public SchedulableThread
 	int commsSend(const void* buf, size_t size);
 	ssize_t commsReceive(char* buf, size_t size);
 	mqd_t queueDesc;
+	bool queueValid = false;
 	std::string queueName;
 };