diff --git a/Lib/poplib.py b/Lib/poplib.py
index aa4600c..bd82841 100644
--- a/Lib/poplib.py
+++ b/Lib/poplib.py
@@ -76,7 +76,8 @@
     """
 
 
-    def __init__(self, host, port=POP3_PORT, timeout=None):
+    def __init__(self, host, port=POP3_PORT,
+                 timeout=socket._GLOBAL_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT):
         self.host = host
         self.port = port
         self.sock = socket.create_connection((host, port), timeout)