diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index 50366b43..7c8f8f2a 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # PHPMailer Change Log
 
+## WIP
+* Split SMTP connection into two separate methods
+
 ## Version 6.1.6 (May 27th, 2020)
 * **SECURITY** Fix insufficient output escaping bug in file attachment names. CVE-2020-13625. Reported by Elar Lang of Clarified Security.
 * Correct Armenian ISO language code from `am` to `hy`, add mapping for fallback
diff --git a/src/SMTP.php b/src/SMTP.php
index b9bc3f88..99d33035 100644
--- a/src/SMTP.php
+++ b/src/SMTP.php
@@ -332,17 +332,13 @@ class SMTP
 
         $this->smtp_conn = $this->getSMTPConnection($host, $port, $timeout, $options);
 
-        $this->edebug('Connection: opened', self::DEBUG_CONNECTION);
-        // SMTP server can take longer to respond, give longer timeout for first read
-        // Windows does not have support for this timeout function
-        if (strpos(PHP_OS, 'WIN') !== 0) {
-            $max = (int) ini_get('max_execution_time');
-            // Don't bother if unlimited
-            if (0 !== $max && $timeout > $max) {
-                @set_time_limit($timeout);
-            }
-            stream_set_timeout($this->smtp_conn, $timeout, 0);
+        if ($this->smtp_conn === false) {
+            //Error info already set inside `getSMTPConnection()`
+            return false;
         }
+
+        $this->edebug('Connection: opened', self::DEBUG_CONNECTION);
+
         // Get any announcement
         $announce = $this->get_lines();
         $this->edebug('SERVER -> CLIENT: ' . $announce, self::DEBUG_SERVER);
@@ -417,6 +413,17 @@ class SMTP
             return false;
         }
 
+        // SMTP server can take longer to respond, give longer timeout for first read
+        // Windows does not have support for this timeout function
+        if (strpos(PHP_OS, 'WIN') !== 0) {
+            $max = (int)ini_get('max_execution_time');
+            // Don't bother if unlimited
+            if (0 !== $max && $timeout > $max) {
+                @set_time_limit($timeout);
+            }
+            stream_set_timeout($connection, $timeout, 0);
+        }
+
         return $connection;
     }