diff --git a/src/lhttpc_lb.erl b/src/lhttpc_lb.erl
index be88797f..a96fa1f9 100644
--- a/src/lhttpc_lb.erl
+++ b/src/lhttpc_lb.erl
@@ -97,15 +97,12 @@ terminate(_, State) ->
 code_change(_, State, _) ->
     State.
 
-find_socket(Pid, ConnectOptions, ConnectTimeout, State) ->
-    Host = State#httpc_man.host,
-    Port = State#httpc_man.port,
-    Ssl = State#httpc_man.ssl,
+find_socket(Pid, ConnectOptions, ConnectTimeout, State = #httpc_man{host=Host, port=Port, ssl=Ssl, sockets=Tid}) ->
     case State#httpc_man.available_sockets of
         [Socket|Available] ->
             case lhttpc_sock:controlling_process(Socket, Pid, Ssl) of
                 ok ->
-                    [{Socket,Timer}] = ets:lookup(State#httpc_man.sockets, Socket),
+                    [{Socket,Timer}] = ets:lookup(Tid, Socket),
                     cancel_timer(Timer, Socket),
                     NewState = State#httpc_man{available_sockets = Available},
                     {{ok, Socket}, NewState};
@@ -118,44 +115,60 @@ find_socket(Pid, ConnectOptions, ConnectTimeout, State) ->
             end;
         [] ->
             MaxSockets = State#httpc_man.max_connections,
-            Size = ets:info(State#httpc_man.sockets, size),
-            case MaxSockets > Size andalso Size =/= undefined of
-                true ->
-                    SocketOptions = [binary, {packet, http}, {active, false} | ConnectOptions],
-                    case lhttpc_sock:connect(Host, Port, SocketOptions, ConnectTimeout, Ssl) of
-                        {ok, Socket} ->
-                            find_socket(Pid, ConnectOptions, ConnectTimeout, store_socket(Socket, State));
-                        {error, etimedout} ->
-                            {{error, sys_timeout}, State};
-                        {error, timeout} ->
-                            {{error, timeout}, State};
-                        {error, Reason} ->
-                            {{error, Reason}, State}
+            Size = ets:info(Tid, size),
+            Failures = case get('#fail') of
+                undefined -> 0;
+                Fail -> Fail
+            end,
+            case Failures > MaxSockets of
+                false ->
+                    case MaxSockets > Size andalso Size =/= undefined of
+                        true ->
+                            SocketOptions = [binary, {packet, http}, {active, false} | ConnectOptions],
+                            case lhttpc_sock:connect(Host, Port, SocketOptions, ConnectTimeout, Ssl) of
+                                {ok, Socket} ->
+                                    put('#fail', 0),
+                                    find_socket(Pid, ConnectOptions, ConnectTimeout, store_socket(Socket, State));
+                                {error, etimedout} ->
+                                    {{error, sys_timeout}, State};
+                                {error, timeout} ->
+                                    {{error, timeout}, State};
+                                %% client not answering
+                                {error, econnrefused} ->
+                                    if Failures < (MaxSockets*2) -> put('#fail', Failures+1);
+                                       true -> ok
+                                    end,
+                                    {{error, econnrefused}, State};
+                                {error, Reason} ->
+                                    {{error, Reason}, State}
+                            end;
+                        false ->
+                            {{error, retry_later}, State}
                     end;
-            false ->
-                {{error, retry_later}, State}
-        end
+                true ->
+                    put('#fail', Failures-2),
+                    {{error, offline}, State}
+            end
     end.
 
-remove_socket(Socket, State) ->
-    case ets:lookup(State#httpc_man.sockets, Socket) of
-        [{Socket,Timer}] ->
+remove_socket(Socket, State = #httpc_man{sockets=Tid, ssl=Ssl}) ->
+    case ets:lookup(Tid, Socket) of
+        [{_,Timer}] ->
             cancel_timer(Timer, Socket),
-            lhttpc_sock:close(Socket, State#httpc_man.ssl),
-            ets:delete(State#httpc_man.sockets, Socket);
+            lhttpc_sock:close(Socket, Ssl),
+            ets:delete(Tid, Socket);
         [] ->
             ok
     end,
     State.
 
-store_socket(Socket, State) ->
-    Timeout = State#httpc_man.connection_timeout,
+store_socket(Socket, State = #httpc_man{connection_timeout=Timeout, ssl=Ssl, sockets=Tid}) ->
     Timer = case Timeout of
         infinity -> undefined;
         _Other -> erlang:send_after(Timeout, self(), {timeout, Socket})
     end,
-    lhttpc_sock:setopts(Socket, [{active, once}], State#httpc_man.ssl),
-    ets:insert(State#httpc_man.sockets, {Socket, Timer}),
+    lhttpc_sock:setopts(Socket, [{active, once}], Ssl),
+    ets:insert(Tid, {Socket, Timer}),
     State#httpc_man{available_sockets = [Socket|State#httpc_man.available_sockets]}.
 
 close_sockets(Sockets, Ssl) ->