diff --git a/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb b/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb
index 4c3a67a..3a5f8f4 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/repl_set_connection.rb
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ module Mongo
     #   this is the number of seconds to wait for a new connection to be released before throwing an exception.
     #   Note: this setting is relevant only for multi-threaded applications.
     # @option opts [Float] :op_timeout (30) The number of seconds to wait for a read operation to time out.
-    # @option opts [Float] :connect_timeout (nil) The number of seconds to wait before timing out a
+    # @option opts [Float] :connect_timeout (30) The number of seconds to wait before timing out a
     #   connection attempt.
     # @option opts [Boolean] :ssl (false) If true, create the connection to the server using SSL.
     # @option opts [Boolean] :refresh_mode (false) Set this to :sync to periodically update the
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ module Mongo
       @op_timeout = opts[:op_timeout] || 30
 
       # Timeout on socket connect.
-      @connect_timeout = opts[:connect_timeout] || nil
+      @connect_timeout = opts[:connect_timeout] || 30
 
       # Mutex for synchronizing pool access
       # TODO: remove this.
diff --git a/lib/mongo/util/node.rb b/lib/mongo/util/node.rb
index e29827d..f33e9f1 100644
--- a/lib/mongo/util/node.rb
+++ b/lib/mongo/util/node.rb
@@ -84,7 +84,13 @@ module Mongo
     # matches with the name provided.
     def set_config
       begin
-        @config = @connection['admin'].command({:ismaster => 1}, :socket => @socket)
+        if @connection.connect_timeout
+          Mongo::TimeoutHandler.timeout(@connection.connect_timeout, OperationTimeout) do
+            @config = @connection['admin'].command({:ismaster => 1}, :socket => @socket)
+          end
+        else
+          @config = @connection['admin'].command({:ismaster => 1}, :socket => @socket)
+        end
 
         if @config['msg'] && @logger
           @connection.log(:warn, "#{config['msg']}")
@@ -95,6 +101,7 @@ module Mongo
       rescue ConnectionFailure, OperationFailure, OperationTimeout, SocketError, SystemCallError, IOError => ex
         @connection.log(:warn, "Attempted connection to node #{host_string} raised " +
                             "#{ex.class}: #{ex.message}")
+        @socket.close unless @socket.closed?
         return nil
       end