diff --git a/Doc/lib/libhttplib.tex b/Doc/lib/libhttplib.tex
index 557ee3d..67371a4 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libhttplib.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libhttplib.tex
@@ -26,18 +26,28 @@
 
 The module provides the following classes:
 
-\begin{classdesc}{HTTPConnection}{host\optional{, port}}
+\begin{classdesc}{HTTPConnection}{host\optional{, port\optional{,
+		  strict\optional{, timeout}}}}
 An \class{HTTPConnection} instance represents one transaction with an HTTP
 server.  It should be instantiated passing it a host and optional port number.
 If no port number is passed, the port is extracted from the host string if it
 has the form \code{\var{host}:\var{port}}, else the default HTTP port (80) is
-used.  For example, the following calls all create instances that connect to
+used.  
+When True the optional parameter \var{strict}
+causes \code{BadStatusLine} to be raised if the status line can't be parsed
+as a valid HTTP/1.0 or 1.1 status line.  If the optional \var{timeout}
+parameter is given, connection attempts will timeout after that many
+seconds (if no timeout is passed, or is passed as None, the global default 
+timeout setting is used).
+
+For example, the following calls all create instances that connect to
 the server at the same host and port:
 
 \begin{verbatim}
 >>> h1 = httplib.HTTPConnection('www.cwi.nl')
 >>> h2 = httplib.HTTPConnection('www.cwi.nl:80')
 >>> h3 = httplib.HTTPConnection('www.cwi.nl', 80)
+>>> h3 = httplib.HTTPConnection('www.cwi.nl', 80, timeout=10)
 \end{verbatim}
 \versionadded{2.0}
 \end{classdesc}
diff --git a/Doc/lib/libsocket.tex b/Doc/lib/libsocket.tex
index e0ce0a5..c63b52b 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libsocket.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libsocket.tex
@@ -170,6 +170,15 @@
 \versionadded{2.3}
 \end{datadesc}
 
+\begin{funcdesc}{create_connection}{address\optional{, timeout}}
+Connects to the \var{address} received (as usual, a pair host/port), with
+an optional timeout for the connection.  Specially useful for higher-level
+protocols, it is not normally used directly from application-level code.  
+Passing the optional \var{timeout} parameter will set the timeout on the 
+socket instance (if not present, or passed as None, the global default
+timeout setting is used).
+\end{funcdesc}
+
 \begin{funcdesc}{getaddrinfo}{host, port\optional{, family\optional{,
                               socktype\optional{, proto\optional{,
                               flags}}}}}
diff --git a/Lib/httplib.py b/Lib/httplib.py
index 213d80c..008f0a4 100644
--- a/Lib/httplib.py
+++ b/Lib/httplib.py
@@ -625,7 +625,8 @@
     debuglevel = 0
     strict = 0
 
-    def __init__(self, host, port=None, strict=None):
+    def __init__(self, host, port=None, strict=None, timeout=None):
+        self.timeout = timeout
         self.sock = None
         self._buffer = []
         self.__response = None
@@ -658,25 +659,7 @@
 
     def connect(self):
         """Connect to the host and port specified in __init__."""
-        msg = "getaddrinfo returns an empty list"
-        for res in socket.getaddrinfo(self.host, self.port, 0,
-                                      socket.SOCK_STREAM):
-            af, socktype, proto, canonname, sa = res
-            try:
-                self.sock = socket.socket(af, socktype, proto)
-                if self.debuglevel > 0:
-                    print "connect: (%s, %s)" % (self.host, self.port)
-                self.sock.connect(sa)
-            except socket.error, msg:
-                if self.debuglevel > 0:
-                    print 'connect fail:', (self.host, self.port)
-                if self.sock:
-                    self.sock.close()
-                self.sock = None
-                continue
-            break
-        if not self.sock:
-            raise socket.error, msg
+        self.sock = socket.create_connection((self.host,self.port), self.timeout)
 
     def close(self):
         """Close the connection to the HTTP server."""
diff --git a/Lib/socket.py b/Lib/socket.py
index 0082e76..c03e884 100644
--- a/Lib/socket.py
+++ b/Lib/socket.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 ssl() -- secure socket layer support (only available if configured)
 socket.getdefaulttimeout() -- get the default timeout value
 socket.setdefaulttimeout() -- set the default timeout value
+create_connection() -- connects to an address, with an optional timeout 
 
  [*] not available on all platforms!
 
@@ -412,3 +413,31 @@
         if not line:
             raise StopIteration
         return line
+
+
+def create_connection(address, timeout=None):
+    """Connect to address (host, port) with an optional timeout.
+
+    Provides access to socketobject timeout for higher-level 
+    protocols.  Passing a timeout will set the timeout on the 
+    socket instance (if not present, or passed as None, the
+    default global timeout setting will be used).
+    """
+    
+    msg = "getaddrinfo returns an empty list"
+    host, port = address
+    for res in getaddrinfo(host, port, 0, SOCK_STREAM):
+        af, socktype, proto, canonname, sa = res
+        sock = None
+        try:
+            sock = socket(af, socktype, proto)
+            if timeout is not None:
+                sock.settimeout(timeout)
+            sock.connect(sa)
+            return sock
+        
+        except error, msg:
+            if sock is not None:
+                sock.close()
+
+    raise error, msg
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_httplib.py b/Lib/test/test_httplib.py
index 90a4e55..a39a3eb 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_httplib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_httplib.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import httplib
 import StringIO
 import sys
+import socket
 
 from unittest import TestCase
 
@@ -149,8 +150,47 @@
     def test_responses(self):
         self.assertEquals(httplib.responses[httplib.NOT_FOUND], "Not Found")
 
+PORT = 50003
+HOST = "localhost"
+
+class TimeoutTest(TestCase):
+    
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.serv = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+        self.serv.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1)
+        global PORT
+        PORT = test_support.bind_port(self.serv, HOST, PORT)
+        self.serv.listen(1)
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        self.serv.close()
+        self.serv = None
+
+    def testTimeoutAttribute(self):
+        '''This will prove that the timeout gets through
+        HTTPConnection and into the socket.
+        '''
+        # default
+        httpConn = httplib.HTTPConnection(HOST, PORT)
+        httpConn.connect()
+        self.assertTrue(httpConn.sock.gettimeout() is None)
+    
+        # a value
+        httpConn = httplib.HTTPConnection(HOST, PORT, timeout=10)
+        httpConn.connect()
+        self.assertEqual(httpConn.sock.gettimeout(), 10)
+
+        # None, having other default
+        previous = socket.getdefaulttimeout()
+        socket.setdefaulttimeout(10)
+        httpConn = httplib.HTTPConnection(HOST, PORT, timeout=None)
+        httpConn.connect()
+        socket.setdefaulttimeout(previous)
+        self.assertEqual(httpConn.sock.gettimeout(), 10)
+
+
 def test_main(verbose=None):
-    test_support.run_unittest(HeaderTests, OfflineTest, BasicTest)
+    test_support.run_unittest(HeaderTests, OfflineTest, BasicTest, TimeoutTest)
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     test_main()
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_socket.py b/Lib/test/test_socket.py
index c56c3b7..a7ebe04 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_socket.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_socket.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
 
     Note, the server setup function cannot call any blocking
     functions that rely on the client thread during setup,
-    unless serverExplicityReady() is called just before
+    unless serverExplicitReady() is called just before
     the blocking call (such as in setting up a client/server
     connection and performing the accept() in setUp().
     """
@@ -810,6 +810,85 @@
     bufsize = 2 # Exercise the buffering code
 
 
+class NetworkConnectionTest(object):
+    """Prove network connection."""
+    def clientSetUp(self):
+        self.cli = socket.create_connection((HOST, PORT))
+        self.serv_conn = self.cli
+    
+class BasicTCPTest2(NetworkConnectionTest, BasicTCPTest):
+    """Tests that NetworkConnection does not break existing TCP functionality.
+    """
+
+class NetworkConnectionAttributesTest(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.serv = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+        self.serv.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1)
+        global PORT
+        PORT = test_support.bind_port(self.serv, HOST, PORT)
+        self.serv.listen(1)
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        if self.serv:
+            self.serv.close()
+            self.serv = None
+
+    def testWithoutServer(self):
+        self.tearDown()
+        self.failUnlessRaises(socket.error, lambda: socket.create_connection((HOST, PORT)))
+
+    def testTimeoutAttribute(self):
+        # default
+        sock = socket.create_connection((HOST, PORT))
+        self.assertTrue(sock.gettimeout() is None)
+    
+        # a value, named
+        sock = socket.create_connection((HOST, PORT), timeout=10)
+        self.assertEqual(sock.gettimeout(), 10)
+
+        # a value, just the value
+        sock = socket.create_connection((HOST, PORT), 10)
+        self.assertEqual(sock.gettimeout(), 10)
+
+        # None, having other default 
+        previous = socket.getdefaulttimeout()
+        socket.setdefaulttimeout(10)
+        sock = socket.create_connection((HOST, PORT), timeout=None)
+        socket.setdefaulttimeout(previous)
+        self.assertEqual(sock.gettimeout(), 10)
+
+    def testFamily(self):
+        sock = socket.create_connection((HOST, PORT), timeout=10)
+        self.assertEqual(sock.family, 2)
+
+
+def threadedServer(delay):
+    serv = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+    serv.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1)
+    global PORT
+    PORT = test_support.bind_port(serv, HOST, PORT)
+    serv.listen(1)
+    conn, addr = serv.accept()
+    time.sleep(delay)
+    conn.send("done!")
+    conn.close()
+        
+class NetworkConnectionBehaviourTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def testInsideTimeout(self):
+        threading.Thread(target=threadedServer, args=(3,)).start()
+        time.sleep(.1)
+        sock = socket.create_connection((HOST, PORT))
+        data = sock.recv(5)
+        self.assertEqual(data, "done!")
+
+    def testOutsideTimeout(self):
+        threading.Thread(target=threadedServer, args=(3,)).start()
+        time.sleep(.1)
+        sock = socket.create_connection((HOST, PORT), timeout=1)
+        self.failUnlessRaises(socket.timeout, lambda: sock.recv(5))
+
+
 class Urllib2FileobjectTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     # urllib2.HTTPHandler has "borrowed" socket._fileobject, and requires that
@@ -977,7 +1056,7 @@
 
 def test_main():
     tests = [GeneralModuleTests, BasicTCPTest, TCPCloserTest, TCPTimeoutTest,
-             TestExceptions, BufferIOTest]
+             TestExceptions, BufferIOTest, BasicTCPTest2]
     if sys.platform != 'mac':
         tests.extend([ BasicUDPTest, UDPTimeoutTest ])
 
@@ -988,6 +1067,8 @@
         LineBufferedFileObjectClassTestCase,
         SmallBufferedFileObjectClassTestCase,
         Urllib2FileobjectTest,
+        NetworkConnectionAttributesTest,
+        NetworkConnectionBehaviourTest,
     ])
     if hasattr(socket, "socketpair"):
         tests.append(BasicSocketPairTest)
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 3489240..dd8f51e 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -199,6 +199,10 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Patch #1676823: Added create_connection() to socket.py, which may be 
+  called with a timeout, and use it from httplib (whose HTTPConnection 
+  now accepts an optional timeout).
+
 - Bug #978833: Revert r50844, as it broke _socketobject.dup.
 
 - Bug #1675967: re patterns pickled with Python 2.4 and earlier can