diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ac6e6006..3906cfb9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@ vendor
 .vscode
 .devcontainer
 # MacOSX
-.DS_Store
\ No newline at end of file
+.DS_Store
+*.test
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/common/publisher_test.go b/pkg/common/publisher_test.go
index a9d6582b..b2c96603 100644
--- a/pkg/common/publisher_test.go
+++ b/pkg/common/publisher_test.go
@@ -29,11 +29,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	topic       = "test-topic"
-	subEndpoint = "tcp://*:5557"
-	pubEndpoint = "tcp://localhost:5557"
-	data        = "Hello"
-	retries     = 0
+	wildcardEndpoint = "tcp://*:*"
+	topic            = "test-topic"
+	data             = "Hello"
+	retries          = 0
 )
 
 var _ = Describe("Publisher", func() {
@@ -42,7 +41,9 @@ var _ = Describe("Publisher", func() {
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 		sub, err := zctx.NewSocket(zmq.SUB)
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
-		err = sub.Bind(subEndpoint)
+		err = sub.Bind(wildcardEndpoint)
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		endpoint, err := sub.GetLastEndpoint()
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 		err = sub.SetSubscribe(topic)
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Publisher", func() {
 
 		time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
 
-		pub, err := NewPublisher(pubEndpoint, retries)
+		pub, err := NewPublisher(endpoint, retries)
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 
 		ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
@@ -94,24 +95,37 @@ var _ = Describe("Publisher", func() {
 		}
 	})
 	It("should retry connection successfully", func() {
+		// Get ephemeral endpoint
+		sub, err := zmq.NewSocket(zmq.SUB)
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		err = sub.Bind(wildcardEndpoint)
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		endpoint, err := sub.GetLastEndpoint()
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
 		// Step 1: Try to connect to a temporarily non-existent service
 		// This will trigger the retry mechanism
-		go func() {
+		go func(sub *zmq.Socket, endpoint string) {
+			// Delay releasing the ephemeral addr
+			time.Sleep(1950 * time.Millisecond)
+			err := sub.Close()
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
 			// Delay starting the server to simulate service recovery
 			time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
 
 			// Start subscriber as server
-			sub, err := zmq.NewSocket(zmq.SUB)
+			sub, err = zmq.NewSocket(zmq.SUB)
 			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 			//nolint
 			defer sub.Close()
-			err = sub.Bind(subEndpoint)
 			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
-		}()
-
+			err = sub.Bind(endpoint)
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		}(sub, endpoint)
 		// Step 2: Publisher will retry connection and eventually succeed
-		pub, err := NewPublisher(pubEndpoint, 5) // 5 retries
-		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())        // Should eventually succeed
+		pub, err := NewPublisher(endpoint, 5) // 5 retries
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())     // Should eventually succeed
 		//nolint
 		defer pub.Close()
 	})
diff --git a/pkg/kv-cache/block_cache.go b/pkg/kv-cache/block_cache.go
index 56d2253b..9b358c4c 100644
--- a/pkg/kv-cache/block_cache.go
+++ b/pkg/kv-cache/block_cache.go
@@ -48,9 +48,13 @@ func newBlockCache(config *common.Configuration, logger logr.Logger) (*blockCach
 	// TODO read size of channel from config
 	eChan := make(chan EventData, 10000)
 
-	publisher, err := common.NewPublisher(config.ZMQEndpoint, config.ZMQMaxConnectAttempts)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	var publisher *common.Publisher
+	var err error
+	if config.ZMQEndpoint != "" {
+		publisher, err = common.NewPublisher(config.ZMQEndpoint, config.ZMQMaxConnectAttempts)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 	}
 
 	return &blockCache{
diff --git a/pkg/kv-cache/kv_cache_sender.go b/pkg/kv-cache/kv_cache_sender.go
index 2b7bee14..1c0c970a 100644
--- a/pkg/kv-cache/kv_cache_sender.go
+++ b/pkg/kv-cache/kv_cache_sender.go
@@ -88,6 +88,10 @@ func (s *KVEventSender) Run(ctx context.Context) error {
 				return nil
 			}
 
+			if s.publisher == nil {
+				continue
+			}
+
 			// Encode eventData's hash value to msgpack.RawMessage
 			var payload []byte
 			var err error
@@ -120,6 +124,9 @@ func (s *KVEventSender) Run(ctx context.Context) error {
 			}
 
 		case <-timer.C:
+			if s.publisher == nil {
+				continue
+			}
 			if err := s.publishHelper(ctx); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/kv-cache/kv_cache_test.go b/pkg/kv-cache/kv_cache_test.go
index 7731196e..fce1b44e 100644
--- a/pkg/kv-cache/kv_cache_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kv-cache/kv_cache_test.go
@@ -33,11 +33,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	req1ID      = "req1"
-	req2ID      = "req2"
-	req3ID      = "req3"
-	subEndpoint = "tcp://*:5557"
-	pubEndpoint = "tcp://localhost:5557"
+	req1ID           = "req1"
+	req2ID           = "req2"
+	req3ID           = "req3"
+	wildcardEndpoint = "tcp://*:*"
 )
 
 type ActionType int
@@ -204,7 +203,6 @@ var _ = Describe("KV cache", Ordered, func() {
 					Port:                  1234,
 					Model:                 "model",
 					KVCacheSize:           test.cacheSize,
-					ZMQEndpoint:           pubEndpoint,
 					ZMQMaxConnectAttempts: 3,
 					EventBatchSize:        1,
 				}
@@ -308,7 +306,6 @@ var _ = Describe("KV cache", Ordered, func() {
 				Port:                  1234,
 				Model:                 "model",
 				KVCacheSize:           4,
-				ZMQEndpoint:           pubEndpoint,
 				ZMQMaxConnectAttempts: 3,
 			}
 
@@ -418,7 +415,6 @@ var _ = Describe("KV cache", Ordered, func() {
 					Port:                  1234,
 					Model:                 "model",
 					KVCacheSize:           testCase.cacheSize,
-					ZMQEndpoint:           pubEndpoint,
 					ZMQMaxConnectAttempts: 3,
 				}
 				blockCache, err := newBlockCache(&config, GinkgoLogr)
@@ -535,8 +531,12 @@ func createSub(config *common.Configuration) (*zmq.Socket, string) {
 	Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 	sub, err := zctx.NewSocket(zmq.SUB)
 	Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
-	err = sub.Bind(subEndpoint)
+	err = sub.Bind(wildcardEndpoint)
 	Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+	// get the actual port
+	endpoint, err := sub.GetLastEndpoint()
+	Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+	config.ZMQEndpoint = endpoint
 	topic := createTopic(config)
 	err = sub.SetSubscribe(topic)
 	Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())