diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPConnection.java b/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPConnection.java
index a66cfaccc..6485ac946 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPConnection.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPConnection.java
@@ -218,6 +218,11 @@ public abstract class XMPPConnection {
     private boolean bindingRequired;
     private boolean sessionSupported;
 
+    /**
+     * 
+     */
+    private IOException connectionException;
+
     /**
      * Create an executor to deliver incoming packets to listeners. We'll use a single thread with an unbounded queue.
      */
@@ -355,6 +360,7 @@ public abstract class XMPPConnection {
         saslAuthentication.init();
         bindingRequired = false;
         sessionSupported = false;
+        connectionException = null;
         connectInternal();
     }
 
@@ -485,6 +491,18 @@ public abstract class XMPPConnection {
         return userJID;
     }
 
+    protected void setConnectionException(IOException exception) {
+        connectionException = exception;
+    }
+
+    protected void throwConnectionExceptionOrNoResponse() throws IOException, NoResponseException {
+        if (connectionException != null) {
+            throw connectionException;
+        } else {
+            throw new NoResponseException();
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Sends the specified packet to the server.
      * 
diff --git a/tcp/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketReader.java b/tcp/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketReader.java
index 7968da2c3..a4c270e95 100644
--- a/tcp/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketReader.java
+++ b/tcp/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/PacketReader.java
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 
 package org.jivesoftware.smack;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.packet.IQ;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.packet.Packet;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.packet.Presence;
@@ -26,7 +28,6 @@ import org.jivesoftware.smack.sasl.SASLMechanism.Challenge;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.sasl.SASLMechanism.SASLFailure;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.sasl.SASLMechanism.Success;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.util.PacketParserUtils;
-
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.SmackException.NoResponseException;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.SmackException.SecurityRequiredException;
 import org.jivesoftware.smack.XMPPException.StreamErrorException;
@@ -92,8 +93,9 @@ class PacketReader {
      *
      * @throws NoResponseException if the server fails to send an opening stream back
      *      within packetReplyTimeout.
+     * @throws IOException 
      */
-    synchronized public void startup() throws NoResponseException {
+    synchronized public void startup() throws NoResponseException, IOException {
         readerThread.start();
         // Wait for stream tag before returning. We'll wait a couple of seconds before
         // giving up and throwing an error.
@@ -108,7 +110,7 @@ class PacketReader {
             // Ignore.
         }
         if (!lastFeaturesParsed) {
-            throw new NoResponseException();
+            connection.throwConnectionExceptionOrNoResponse();
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/tcp/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPTCPConnection.java b/tcp/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPTCPConnection.java
index 07a826d12..89206c99f 100644
--- a/tcp/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPTCPConnection.java
+++ b/tcp/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/XMPPTCPConnection.java
@@ -716,8 +716,15 @@ public class XMPPTCPConnection extends XMPPConnection {
                 plain.getInetAddress().getHostAddress(), plain.getPort(), true);
         // Initialize the reader and writer with the new secured version
         initReaderAndWriter();
-        // Proceed to do the handshake
-        ((SSLSocket) socket).startHandshake();
+
+        try {
+            // Proceed to do the handshake
+            ((SSLSocket) socket).startHandshake();
+        }
+        catch (IOException e) {
+            setConnectionException(e);
+            throw e;
+        }
         //if (((SSLSocket) socket).getWantClientAuth()) {
         //    System.err.println("XMPPConnection wants client auth");
         //}