diff --git a/src/signaler.cpp b/src/signaler.cpp
index f199d08c..8a5d38e0 100644
--- a/src/signaler.cpp
+++ b/src/signaler.cpp
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ int zmq::signaler_t::make_fdpair (fd_t *r_, fd_t *w_)
         (char *)&tcp_nodelay, sizeof (tcp_nodelay));
     wsa_assert (rc != SOCKET_ERROR);
 
-    //  Bind listening socket to any free local port.
+    //  Bind listening socket to signaler port.
     struct sockaddr_in addr;
     memset (&addr, 0, sizeof (addr));
     addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
@@ -314,15 +314,19 @@ int zmq::signaler_t::make_fdpair (fd_t *r_, fd_t *w_)
 
     //  Connect writer to the listener.
     rc = connect (*w_, (struct sockaddr*) &addr, sizeof (addr));
-    wsa_assert (rc != SOCKET_ERROR);
 
-    //  Accept connection from writer.
-    *r_ = accept (listener, NULL, NULL);
-    wsa_assert (*r_ != INVALID_SOCKET);
+    //  Save errno if connection fails
+    int conn_errno = 0;
+    if (rc == SOCKET_ERROR) {
+        conn_errno = WSAGetLastError ();
+    } else {
+        //  Accept connection from writer.
+        *r_ = accept (listener, NULL, NULL);
 
-    //  On Windows, preventing sockets to be inherited by child processes.
-    brc = SetHandleInformation ((HANDLE) *r_, HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT, 0);
-    win_assert (brc);
+        if (*r_ == INVALID_SOCKET) {
+            conn_errno = WSAGetLastError ();
+        }
+    }
 
     //  We don't need the listening socket anymore. Close it.
     rc = closesocket (listener);
@@ -332,11 +336,33 @@ int zmq::signaler_t::make_fdpair (fd_t *r_, fd_t *w_)
     brc = SetEvent (sync);
     win_assert (brc != 0);
 
-    // Release the kernel object
+    //  Release the kernel object
     brc = CloseHandle (sync);
     win_assert (brc != 0);
 
-    return 0;
+    if (*r_ != INVALID_SOCKET) {
+        //  On Windows, preventing sockets to be inherited by child processes.
+        brc = SetHandleInformation ((HANDLE) *r_, HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT, 0);
+        win_assert (brc);
+
+        return 0;
+    } else {
+        //  Cleanup writer if connection failed
+        rc = closesocket (*w_);
+        wsa_assert (rc != SOCKET_ERROR);
+
+        *w_ = INVALID_SOCKET;
+
+        //  Set errno from saved value
+        errno = wsa_error_to_errno (conn_errno);
+
+        //  Ideally, we would return errno to the caller signaler_t()
+        //  Unfortunately, it uses errno_assert() which gives "Unknown error"
+        //  We might as well assert here and print the actual error message
+        wsa_assert_no (conn_errno);
+
+        return -1;
+    }
 
 #elif defined ZMQ_HAVE_OPENVMS