diff --git a/bindings/java/src/jni/javasigar.c b/bindings/java/src/jni/javasigar.c
index c8143001..6a5e9cc0 100644
--- a/bindings/java/src/jni/javasigar.c
+++ b/bindings/java/src/jni/javasigar.c
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ JNIEXPORT jobjectArray SIGAR_JNI(Sigar_getFileSystemListNative)
     return fsarray;
 }
 
-JNIEXPORT jboolean SIGAR_JNI(RPC_ping)
+JNIEXPORT jint SIGAR_JNI(RPC_ping)
 (JNIEnv *env, jclass cls_obj, jstring jhostname,
  jint protocol, jlong program, jlong version)
 {
@@ -419,23 +419,23 @@ JNIEXPORT jboolean SIGAR_JNI(RPC_ping)
 #else
     jboolean is_copy;
     const char *hostname;
-    jboolean retval;
+    int status;
 
     if (!jhostname) {
-        return JNI_FALSE;
+        return 13; /* RPC_UNKNOWNHOST */
     }
 
     hostname = JENV->GetStringUTFChars(env, jhostname, &is_copy);
 
-    retval =
-        (sigar_rpc_ping((char *)hostname,
-                        protocol, program, version) == SIGAR_OK);
+    status =
+        sigar_rpc_ping((char *)hostname,
+                       protocol, program, version);
 
     if (is_copy) {
         JENV->ReleaseStringUTFChars(env, jhostname, hostname);
     }
 
-    return retval;
+    return status;
 #endif
 }
 
diff --git a/bindings/java/src/net/hyperic/sigar/NfsFileSystem.java b/bindings/java/src/net/hyperic/sigar/NfsFileSystem.java
index 4a9bb251..a99bff0a 100644
--- a/bindings/java/src/net/hyperic/sigar/NfsFileSystem.java
+++ b/bindings/java/src/net/hyperic/sigar/NfsFileSystem.java
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ public class NfsFileSystem extends FileSystem {
     }
 
     public boolean ping() {
-        return RPC.ping(getHostname(), NFS_PROGRAM);
+        return RPC.ping(getHostname(), NFS_PROGRAM) == 0;
     }
 
     public String getUnreachableMessage() {
diff --git a/bindings/java/src/net/hyperic/sigar/RPC.java b/bindings/java/src/net/hyperic/sigar/RPC.java
index 4361cbb4..6a770f4d 100644
--- a/bindings/java/src/net/hyperic/sigar/RPC.java
+++ b/bindings/java/src/net/hyperic/sigar/RPC.java
@@ -11,26 +11,26 @@ public class RPC {
     public static final int UDP = NetFlags.CONN_UDP;
     public static final int TCP = NetFlags.CONN_TCP;
 
-    public static native boolean ping(String hostname,
-                                      int protocol,
-                                      long program,
-                                      long version);
+    public static native int ping(String hostname,
+                                  int protocol,
+                                  long program,
+                                  long version);
 
-    public static boolean ping(String hostname,
-                               int protocol,
-                               String program,
-                               long version) {
+    public static int ping(String hostname,
+                           int protocol,
+                           String program,
+                           long version) {
         return ping(hostname,
                     protocol,
                     getProgram(program),
                     version);
     }
 
-    public static boolean ping(String hostname, long program) {
+    public static int ping(String hostname, long program) {
         return ping(hostname, UDP, program, 2);
     }
 
-    public static boolean ping(String hostname, String program) {
+    public static int ping(String hostname, String program) {
         return ping(hostname, UDP, program, 2);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/sigar_util.c b/src/sigar_util.c
index 60431346..72d9ddc2 100644
--- a/src/sigar_util.c
+++ b/src/sigar_util.c
@@ -493,7 +493,7 @@ int sigar_cpu_mhz_from_model(char *model)
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #endif
 
-static int get_sockaddr(struct sockaddr_in *addr, char *host)
+static enum clnt_stat get_sockaddr(struct sockaddr_in *addr, char *host)
 {
     register struct hostent *hp;
 
@@ -502,12 +502,12 @@ static int get_sockaddr(struct sockaddr_in *addr, char *host)
 
     if ((addr->sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(host)) == -1) {
         if (!(hp = sigar_gethostbyname(host))) {
-            return -1;
+            return RPC_UNKNOWNHOST;
         }
         memcpy(&addr->sin_addr, hp->h_addr, hp->h_length);
     }
 
-    return SIGAR_OK;
+    return RPC_SUCCESS;
 }
 
 SIGAR_DECLARE(int) sigar_rpc_ping(char *host,
@@ -517,13 +517,14 @@ SIGAR_DECLARE(int) sigar_rpc_ping(char *host,
 {
     CLIENT *client;
     struct sockaddr_in addr;
-    int sock, retval=SIGAR_OK;
+    int sock;
     struct timeval timeout, interval;
     unsigned short port = 0;
     enum clnt_stat rpc_stat; 
 
-    if (get_sockaddr(&addr, host) != SIGAR_OK) {
-        return -1;
+    rpc_stat = get_sockaddr(&addr, host);
+    if (rpc_stat != RPC_SUCCESS) {
+        return rpc_stat;
     }
 
     interval.tv_sec = 2;
@@ -533,7 +534,7 @@ SIGAR_DECLARE(int) sigar_rpc_ping(char *host,
     client = clntudp_create(&addr, program, version,
                             interval, &sock);
     if (!client) {
-        return -1;
+        return RPC_FAILED;
     }
 
     timeout.tv_sec = 10;
@@ -542,12 +543,12 @@ SIGAR_DECLARE(int) sigar_rpc_ping(char *host,
                          (xdrproc_t)xdr_void, NULL, timeout);
 
     if (rpc_stat != RPC_SUCCESS) {
-        retval = -1;
+        return rpc_stat;
     }
 
     clnt_destroy(client);
 
-    return retval;
+    return RPC_SUCCESS;
 }
 #endif