diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 198c9e9..9182837 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -76,6 +76,11 @@ namespace :test do
     t.verbose    = true
   end
 
+  Rake::TestTask.new(:auto_reconnect) do |t|
+    t.test_files = FileList['test/auxillary/autoreconnect_test.rb']
+    t.verbose    = true
+  end
+
   task :drop_databases do |t|
     puts "Dropping test database..."
     require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'lib', 'mongo')
diff --git a/lib/mongo/connection.rb b/lib/mongo/connection.rb
index 07130cc..a28eff8 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/connection.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/connection.rb
@@ -321,6 +321,7 @@ module Mongo
           break if is_master || @slave_ok
         rescue SocketError, SystemCallError, IOError => ex
           socket.close if socket
+          close
           false
         end
       end
@@ -513,6 +514,7 @@ module Mongo
           message += chunk
         end
         rescue => ex
+          close
           raise ConnectionFailure, "Operation failed with the following exception: #{ex}"
       end
       message