diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 6dca910..b483d3c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@ Unreleased
 
 **Fixed**
 
+* Fixed reconnection on the Twisted transport failing after a connection had
+  been idle for more than a few seconds: ``connect`` now schedules the
+  connection through the reactor thread so an idle reactor is woken to service
+  it (previously the new connector was added from another thread and the
+  reactor, blocked in ``select()``, never noticed it).
+
 **Deprecated**
 
 **Removed**
diff --git a/src/roslibpy/comm/comm_autobahn.py b/src/roslibpy/comm/comm_autobahn.py
index 3a830fd..bbf6cc0 100644
--- a/src/roslibpy/comm/comm_autobahn.py
+++ b/src/roslibpy/comm/comm_autobahn.py
@@ -71,6 +71,16 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
 
     def connect(self):
         """Establish WebSocket connection to the ROS server defined for this factory."""
+        # Route the connection setup through the reactor thread. Calling
+        # ``connectWS`` directly only happens to work while the reactor is busy;
+        # once it is idle (e.g. more than ``closeHandshakeTimeout`` seconds after
+        # a previous disconnect) it sits blocked in ``select()`` and never
+        # notices a connector added from another thread, so the connection times
+        # out. ``callFromThread`` wakes it, and is also safe before the reactor
+        # has started (the call is queued and runs once it does).
+        reactor.callFromThread(self._connect)
+
+    def _connect(self):
         self.connector = connectWS(self)
 
     @property