diff --git a/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py b/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
index 0bd09fd737a..1123c251ebd 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
@@ -789,13 +789,17 @@ class BaseTestAPI(unittest.TestCase):
                                                               count=500))
             t.start()
 
-            for x in range(20):
-                s = socket.socket(self.family, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
-                s.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_LINGER,
-                             struct.pack('ii', 1, 0))
-                s.connect(server.address)
-                s.close()
 
+            s = socket.socket(self.family, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+            s.settimeout(.2)
+            s.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_LINGER,
+                         struct.pack('ii', 1, 0))
+            try:
+                s.connect(server.address)
+            except socket.error:
+                pass
+            finally:
+                s.close()
 
 class TestAPI_UseIPv4Sockets(BaseTestAPI):
     family = socket.AF_INET