diff --git a/cassandra/connection.py b/cassandra/connection.py
index f07160e385..eae018649b 100644
--- a/cassandra/connection.py
+++ b/cassandra/connection.py
@@ -986,6 +986,8 @@ def factory(cls, endpoint, timeout, host_conn = None, *args, **kwargs):
             conn.close()
             raise OperationTimedOut("Timed out creating connection (%s seconds)" % timeout,
                                     timeout=timeout)
+        elif conn.is_closed:
+            raise ConnectionShutdown("Connection to %s was closed by server" % conn.endpoint)
         else:
             return conn
 
diff --git a/cassandra/io/libevreactor.py b/cassandra/io/libevreactor.py
index 3da809931f..6cceb6c6bc 100644
--- a/cassandra/io/libevreactor.py
+++ b/cassandra/io/libevreactor.py
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ def _cleanup(self):
             for watcher in (conn._write_watcher, conn._read_watcher):
                 if watcher:
                     watcher.stop()
+            conn._socket.close()
 
         self.notify()  # wake the timer watcher
 
@@ -221,6 +222,8 @@ def _loop_will_run(self, prepare):
                     conn._read_watcher.stop()
                     # clear reference cycles from IO callback
                     del conn._read_watcher
+                conn._socket.close()
+                log.debug("Closed socket to %s", conn.endpoint)
 
             changed = True
 
@@ -233,7 +236,7 @@ def _loop_will_run(self, prepare):
 
 def _atexit_cleanup():
     """Cleanup function called by atexit that uses the current _global_loop value.
-    
+
     This wrapper ensures that cleanup receives the actual LibevLoop instance
     instead of None, which was the value of _global_loop when the module was
     imported.
@@ -308,8 +311,6 @@ def close(self):
         log.debug("Closing connection (%s) to %s", id(self), self.endpoint)
 
         _global_loop.connection_destroyed(self)
-        self._socket.close()
-        log.debug("Closed socket to %s", self.endpoint)
 
         # don't leave in-progress operations hanging
         if not self.is_defunct:
@@ -320,6 +321,8 @@ def close(self):
             self.connected_event.set()
 
     def handle_write(self, watcher, revents, errno=None):
+        if self.is_closed:
+            return
         if revents & libev.EV_ERROR:
             if errno:
                 exc = IOError(errno, os.strerror(errno))
@@ -361,6 +364,8 @@ def handle_write(self, watcher, revents, errno=None):
                         return
 
     def handle_read(self, watcher, revents, errno=None):
+        if self.is_closed:
+            return
         if revents & libev.EV_ERROR:
             if errno:
                 exc = IOError(errno, os.strerror(errno))