diff --git a/src/netops.c b/src/netops.c
index 4b307af45..e1ab2435b 100644
--- a/src/netops.c
+++ b/src/netops.c
@@ -74,12 +74,11 @@ void gitno_consume_n(gitno_buffer *buf, size_t cons)
 	buf->offset -= cons;
 }
 
-int gitno_connect(const char *host, const char *port)
+int gitno_connect(const char *host, const char *port, GIT_SOCKET *s)
 {
 	struct addrinfo *info, *p;
 	struct addrinfo hints;
 	int ret, error = GIT_SUCCESS;
-	GIT_SOCKET s;
 
 	memset(&hints, 0x0, sizeof(struct addrinfo));
 	hints.ai_family = AF_UNSPEC;
@@ -93,24 +92,25 @@ int gitno_connect(const char *host, const char *port)
 	}
 
 	for (p = info; p != NULL; p = p->ai_next) {
-		s = socket(p->ai_family, p->ai_socktype, p->ai_protocol);
+		*s = socket(p->ai_family, p->ai_socktype, p->ai_protocol);
 #ifdef GIT_WIN32
-		if (s == INVALID_SOCKET) {
+		if (*s == INVALID_SOCKET) {
 #else
-		if (s < 0) {
+		if (*s < 0) {
 #endif
 			error = GIT_EOSERR;
 			goto cleanup;
 		}
 
-		ret = connect(s, p->ai_addr, p->ai_addrlen);
+		ret = connect(*s, p->ai_addr, p->ai_addrlen);
 		/* If we can't connect, try the next one */
 		if (ret < 0) {
+			close(*s);
 			continue;
 		}
 
 		/* Return the socket */
-		error = s;
+		error = GIT_SUCCESS;
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/netops.h b/src/netops.h
index 01ad9714f..cef39d923 100644
--- a/src/netops.h
+++ b/src/netops.h
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ int gitno_recv(gitno_buffer *buf);
 void gitno_consume(gitno_buffer *buf, const char *ptr);
 void gitno_consume_n(gitno_buffer *buf, size_t cons);
 
-int gitno_connect(const char *host, const char *port);
+int gitno_connect(const char *host, const char *port, GIT_SOCKET *s);
 int gitno_send(GIT_SOCKET s, const char *msg, size_t len, int flags);
 int gitno_close(GIT_SOCKET s);
 int gitno_send_chunk_size(int s, size_t len);
diff --git a/src/transports/git.c b/src/transports/git.c
index 88e7e8160..b0acc7e62 100644
--- a/src/transports/git.c
+++ b/src/transports/git.c
@@ -106,10 +106,12 @@ static int do_connect(transport_git *t, const char *url)
 	if (error < GIT_SUCCESS)
 		return error;
 
-	s = gitno_connect(host, port);
-	connected = 1;
-	error = send_request(s, NULL, url);
-	t->socket = s;
+	error = gitno_connect(host, port, &s);
+	if (error == GIT_SUCCESS) {
+		connected = 1;
+		error = send_request(s, NULL, url);
+		t->socket = s;
+	}
 
 	git__free(host);
 	git__free(port);
diff --git a/src/transports/http.c b/src/transports/http.c
index 2842d08fd..323b56105 100644
--- a/src/transports/http.c
+++ b/src/transports/http.c
@@ -82,14 +82,15 @@ static int gen_request(git_buf *buf, const char *url, const char *host, const ch
 
 static int do_connect(transport_http *t, const char *host, const char *port)
 {
-	GIT_SOCKET s = -1;
+	int error = GIT_SUCCESS;
+	GIT_SOCKET s;
 
 	if (t->parent.connected && http_should_keep_alive(&t->parser))
 		return GIT_SUCCESS;
 
-	s = gitno_connect(host, port);
-	if (s < GIT_SUCCESS) {
-	    return git__rethrow(s, "Failed to connect to host");
+	error = gitno_connect(host, port, &s);
+	if (error != GIT_SUCCESS) {
+	    return git__rethrow(error, "Failed to connect to host");
 	}
 	t->socket = s;
 	t->parent.connected = 1;