diff --git a/bufferevent-internal.h b/bufferevent-internal.h
index 81cadf1a..eac31831 100644
--- a/bufferevent-internal.h
+++ b/bufferevent-internal.h
@@ -137,6 +137,9 @@ struct bufferevent_private {
 	unsigned writecb_pending : 1;
 	/** Flag: set if we are currently busy connecting. */
 	unsigned connecting : 1;
+	/** Flag: set if a connect failed prematurely; this is a hack for
+	 * getting around the bufferevent abstraction. */
+	unsigned connection_refused : 1;
 	/** Set to the events pending if we have deferred callbacks and
 	 * an events callback is pending. */
 	short eventcb_pending;
diff --git a/bufferevent_sock.c b/bufferevent_sock.c
index 2225a2a4..22e76032 100644
--- a/bufferevent_sock.c
+++ b/bufferevent_sock.c
@@ -213,6 +213,12 @@ bufferevent_writecb(evutil_socket_t fd, short event, void *arg)
 	}
 	if (bufev_p->connecting) {
 		int c = evutil_socket_finished_connecting(fd);
+		/* we need to fake the error if the connection was refused
+		 * immediately - usually connection to localhost on BSD */
+		if (bufev_p->connection_refused) {
+		  bufev_p->connection_refused = 0;
+		  c = -1;
+		}
 
 		if (c == 0)
 			goto done;
@@ -395,11 +401,19 @@ bufferevent_socket_connect(struct bufferevent *bev,
 			result = 0;
 			goto done;
 		}
-	} else {
+	} if (r == 1) {
 		/* The connect succeeded already. How very BSD of it. */
 		result = 0;
 		bufev_p->connecting = 1;
 		event_active(&bev->ev_write, EV_WRITE, 1);
+	} else {
+		/* The connect failed already.  How very BSD of it. */
+		if (! be_socket_enable(bev, EV_WRITE)) {
+			bufev_p->connection_refused = 1;
+			bufev_p->connecting = 1;
+			result = 0;
+			goto done;
+		}
 	}
 
 	goto done;
diff --git a/evutil.c b/evutil.c
index a4dc2ef6..7df02149 100644
--- a/evutil.c
+++ b/evutil.c
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ evutil_socket_geterror(evutil_socket_t sock)
 }
 #endif
 
-/* 1 for connected, 0 for not yet, -1 for error. */
+/* 2 for connection refused, 1 for connected, 0 for not yet, -1 for error. */
 int
 evutil_socket_connect(evutil_socket_t *fd_ptr, struct sockaddr *sa, int socklen)
 {
@@ -374,6 +374,8 @@ evutil_socket_connect(evutil_socket_t *fd_ptr, struct sockaddr *sa, int socklen)
 		int e = evutil_socket_geterror(*fd_ptr);
 		if (EVUTIL_ERR_CONNECT_RETRIABLE(e))
 			return 0;
+		if (EVUTIL_ERR_CONNECT_REFUSED(e))
+			return 2;
 		goto err;
 	} else {
 		return 1;
diff --git a/util-internal.h b/util-internal.h
index 726b6939..6fa4bd63 100644
--- a/util-internal.h
+++ b/util-internal.h
@@ -66,13 +66,17 @@ extern "C" {
 /* True iff e is an error that means a read/write operation can be retried. */
 #define EVUTIL_ERR_RW_RETRIABLE(e)				\
 	((e) == EINTR || (e) == EAGAIN)
-/* True iff e is an error that means an accept can be retried. */
+/* True iff e is an error that means an connect can be retried. */
 #define EVUTIL_ERR_CONNECT_RETRIABLE(e)			\
 	((e) == EINTR || (e) == EINPROGRESS)
-/* True iff e is an error that means a connect can be retried. */
+/* True iff e is an error that means a accept can be retried. */
 #define EVUTIL_ERR_ACCEPT_RETRIABLE(e)			\
 	((e) == EINTR || (e) == EAGAIN || (e) == ECONNABORTED)
 
+/* True iff e is an error that means the connection was refused */
+#define EVUTIL_ERR_CONNECT_REFUSED(e)					\
+	((e) == ECONNREFUSED)
+
 #else
 
 #define EVUTIL_ERR_RW_RETRIABLE(e)					\
@@ -88,6 +92,9 @@ extern "C" {
 #define EVUTIL_ERR_ACCEPT_RETRIABLE(e)			\
 	EVUTIL_ERR_RW_RETRIABLE(e)
 
+#define EVUTIL_ERR_CONNECT_REFUSED(e)					\
+	((e) == WSAECONNREFUSED)
+
 #endif
 
 #ifdef _EVENT_socklen_t