diff --git a/lib/redis/client.rb b/lib/redis/client.rb
index 9f7ab94..9d8fcea 100644
--- a/lib/redis/client.rb
+++ b/lib/redis/client.rb
@@ -237,6 +237,8 @@ class Redis
     end
 
     def timeout=(timeout)
+      return if @sock.nil?
+
       secs   = Integer(timeout)
       usecs  = Integer((timeout - secs) * 1_000_000)
       optval = [secs, usecs].pack("l_2")