diff --git a/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py b/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
index f2fbc589c38..b8dfad279f3 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
@@ -714,10 +714,15 @@ class BaseTestAPI(unittest.TestCase):
 
         for x in xrange(20):
             s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+            s.settimeout(.2)
             s.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_LINGER,
                          struct.pack('ii', 1, 0))
-            s.connect(server.address)
-            s.close()
+            try:
+                s.connect(server.address)
+            except socket.error:
+                pass
+            finally:
+                s.close()
 
 
 class TestAPI_UseSelect(BaseTestAPI):