diff --git a/java/org/apache/tomcat/websocket/WsWebSocketContainer.java b/java/org/apache/tomcat/websocket/WsWebSocketContainer.java
index bb5fd4b00d94..0750be7eeaf1 100644
--- a/java/org/apache/tomcat/websocket/WsWebSocketContainer.java
+++ b/java/org/apache/tomcat/websocket/WsWebSocketContainer.java
@@ -255,13 +255,6 @@ private Session connectToServerRecursive(ClientEndpointHolder clientEndpointHold
         }
         ByteBuffer request = createRequest(path, reqHeaders);
 
-        AsynchronousSocketChannel socketChannel;
-        try {
-            socketChannel = AsynchronousSocketChannel.open(getAsynchronousChannelGroup());
-        } catch (IOException ioe) {
-            throw new DeploymentException(sm.getString("wsWebSocketContainer.asynchronousSocketChannelFail"), ioe);
-        }
-
         // Get the connection timeout
         long timeout = Constants.IO_TIMEOUT_MS_DEFAULT;
         String timeoutValue = (String) userProperties.get(Constants.IO_TIMEOUT_MS_PROPERTY);
@@ -269,6 +262,13 @@ private Session connectToServerRecursive(ClientEndpointHolder clientEndpointHold
             timeout = Long.valueOf(timeoutValue).intValue();
         }
 
+        AsynchronousSocketChannel socketChannel;
+        try {
+            socketChannel = AsynchronousSocketChannel.open(getAsynchronousChannelGroup());
+        } catch (IOException ioe) {
+            throw new DeploymentException(sm.getString("wsWebSocketContainer.asynchronousSocketChannelFail"), ioe);
+        }
+
         // Set-up
         // Same size as the WsFrame input buffer
         ByteBuffer response = ByteBuffer.allocate(getDefaultMaxBinaryMessageBufferSize());