diff --git a/Lib/smtplib.py b/Lib/smtplib.py
index 69d7f71..9300474 100755
--- a/Lib/smtplib.py
+++ b/Lib/smtplib.py
@@ -754,9 +754,10 @@
 
         def _get_socket(self, host, port, timeout):
             if self.debuglevel > 0: print>>stderr, 'connect:', (host, port)
-            self.sock = socket.create_connection((host, port), timeout)
-            self.sock = ssl.wrap_socket(self.sock, self.keyfile, self.certfile)
-            self.file = SSLFakeFile(self.sock)
+            new_socket = socket.create_connection((host, port), timeout)
+            new_socket = ssl.wrap_socket(new_socket, self.keyfile, self.certfile)
+            self.file = SSLFakeFile(new_socket)
+            return new_socket
 
     __all__.append("SMTP_SSL")
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_smtpnet.py b/Lib/test/test_smtpnet.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c38eeee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/test/test_smtpnet.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+import unittest
+from test import test_support
+import smtplib
+
+test_support.requires(
+    "network",
+    "use of network resource is not enabled and "
+    "test requires Internet access for communication with smtp.gmail.com:465",
+    )
+
+class SmtpSSLTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    testServer = 'smtp.gmail.com'
+    remotePort = 465
+
+    def test_connect(self):
+        server = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(self.testServer, self.remotePort)
+        server.ehlo()
+        server.quit()
+
+def test_main():
+    test_support.run_unittest(SmtpSSLTest)
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    test_main()