diff --git a/lib/activedirectory.js b/lib/activedirectory.js
index a54b294..67f29a1 100755
--- a/lib/activedirectory.js
+++ b/lib/activedirectory.js
@@ -913,6 +913,10 @@ ActiveDirectory.prototype.authenticate = function authenticate (username, passwo
   }
 
   const client = utils.createClient(null, null, this)
+  client.on('connectTimeout', (err) => {
+    this.emit('error', err)
+    return callback(err, false)
+  })
   client.on('error', (err) => {
     // only used on socket connection failure since it doesn't invoke bind cb
     this.emit('error', err)
diff --git a/lib/components/search.js b/lib/components/search.js
index ae23632..74ef08b 100644
--- a/lib/components/search.js
+++ b/lib/components/search.js
@@ -58,6 +58,10 @@ function Searcher (opts) {
   this.rangeProcessing = false
 
   this.client = utils.createClient(ad.url || ad.opts.url, this.ldapOpts, ad)
+  this.client.on('connectTimeout', (err) => {
+    // to handle connection errors
+    this.callback(err)
+  })
   this.client.on('error', (err) => {
     // to handle connection errors
     this.callback(err)
diff --git a/test/find.js b/test/find.js
index 8f88204..27bb52b 100644
--- a/test/find.js
+++ b/test/find.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 /* eslint-disable no-unused-expressions */
 
 const expect = require('chai').expect
+const ldapjs = require('ldapjs')
 const ActiveDirectory = require('../index')
 const config = require('./config')
 
@@ -215,5 +216,16 @@ describe('find Method', function () {
         done()
       })
     })
+
+    it('should return err (ConnectionError) when connection timeouts', function (done) {
+      new ActiveDirectory({
+        url: 'ldap://example.com',
+        connectTimeout: 100
+      }).find({}, function (err, result) {
+        expect(err).to.be.an.instanceOf(ldapjs.ConnectionError)
+        expect(result).to.be.undefined
+        done()
+      })
+    })
   })
 })
diff --git a/test/network.js b/test/network.js
index de57ca1..8a0d5fe 100644
--- a/test/network.js
+++ b/test/network.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 /* eslint-disable no-unused-expressions */
 
 const expect = require('chai').expect
+const ldapjs = require('ldapjs')
 const ActiveDirectory = require('../index')
 
 describe('Network Connections', function () {
@@ -33,5 +34,17 @@ describe('Network Connections', function () {
         done()
       })
     })
+
+    it('should return err (ConnectionError) when connection timeouts', function (done) {
+      const ad = new ActiveDirectory({
+        url: 'ldap://example.com',
+        connectTimeout: 1
+      })
+      ad.authenticate(username, password, function (err, auth) {
+        expect(err).to.be.an.instanceOf(ldapjs.ConnectionError)
+        expect(auth).to.be.false
+        done()
+      })
+    })
   })
 })