diff --git a/lib/conncache.c b/lib/conncache.c
index 290638ea0..5bbcf3c86 100644
--- a/lib/conncache.c
+++ b/lib/conncache.c
@@ -202,6 +202,7 @@ void Curl_conncache_foreach(struct conncache *connc,
     struct connectdata *conn;
 
     bundle = he->ptr;
+    he = Curl_hash_next_element(&iter);
 
     curr = bundle->conn_list->head;
     while(curr) {
@@ -213,8 +214,6 @@ void Curl_conncache_foreach(struct conncache *connc,
       if(1 == func(conn, param))
         return;
     }
-
-    he = Curl_hash_next_element(&iter);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/conncache.h b/lib/conncache.h
index 866554b63..d793f2482 100644
--- a/lib/conncache.h
+++ b/lib/conncache.h
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  *                            | (__| |_| |  _ <| |___
  *                             \___|\___/|_| \_\_____|
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2012, 2013, Linus Nielsen Feltzing, <linus@haxx.se>
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 - 2014, Linus Nielsen Feltzing, <linus@haxx.se>
  *
  * This software is licensed as described in the file COPYING, which
  * you should have received as part of this distribution. The terms
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ struct conncache {
   struct curl_hash *hash;
   size_t num_connections;
   long next_connection_id;
+  struct timeval last_cleanup;
 };
 
 struct conncache *Curl_conncache_init(int size);
diff --git a/lib/url.c b/lib/url.c
index 57d243822..cf9325308 100644
--- a/lib/url.c
+++ b/lib/url.c
@@ -2912,6 +2912,69 @@ find_oldest_idle_connection_in_bundle(struct SessionHandle *data,
   return conn_candidate;
 }
 
+/*
+ * This function checks if given connection is dead and disconnects if so.
+ * (That also removes it from the connection cache.)
+ *
+ * Returns TRUE if the connection actually was dead and disconnected.
+ */
+static bool disconnect_if_dead(struct connectdata *conn,
+                               struct SessionHandle *data)
+{
+  size_t pipeLen = conn->send_pipe->size + conn->recv_pipe->size;
+  if(!pipeLen && !conn->inuse) {
+    /* The check for a dead socket makes sense only if there are no
+       handles in pipeline and the connection isn't already marked in
+       use */
+    bool dead;
+    if(conn->handler->protocol & CURLPROTO_RTSP)
+      /* RTSP is a special case due to RTP interleaving */
+      dead = Curl_rtsp_connisdead(conn);
+    else
+      dead = SocketIsDead(conn->sock[FIRSTSOCKET]);
+
+    if(dead) {
+      conn->data = data;
+      infof(data, "Connection %ld seems to be dead!\n", conn->connection_id);
+
+      /* disconnect resources */
+      Curl_disconnect(conn, /* dead_connection */TRUE);
+      return TRUE;
+    }
+  }
+  return FALSE;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Wrapper to use disconnect_if_dead() function in Curl_conncache_foreach()
+ *
+ * Returns always 0.
+ */
+static int call_disconnect_if_dead(struct connectdata *conn,
+                                      void *param)
+{
+  struct SessionHandle* data = (struct SessionHandle*)param;
+  disconnect_if_dead(conn, data);
+  return 0; /* continue iteration */
+}
+
+/*
+ * This function scans the connection cache for half-open/dead connections,
+ * closes and removes them.
+ * The cleanup is done at most once per second.
+ */
+static void prune_dead_connections(struct SessionHandle *data)
+{
+  struct timeval now = Curl_tvnow();
+  long elapsed = Curl_tvdiff(now, data->state.conn_cache->last_cleanup);
+
+  if(elapsed >= 1000L) {
+    Curl_conncache_foreach(data->state.conn_cache, data,
+                           call_disconnect_if_dead);
+    data->state.conn_cache->last_cleanup = now;
+  }
+}
+
 /*
  * Given one filled in connection struct (named needle), this function should
  * detect if there already is one that has all the significant details
@@ -2976,30 +3039,11 @@ ConnectionExists(struct SessionHandle *data,
       check = curr->ptr;
       curr = curr->next;
 
+      if(disconnect_if_dead(check, data))
+        continue;
+
       pipeLen = check->send_pipe->size + check->recv_pipe->size;
 
-      if(!pipeLen && !check->inuse) {
-        /* The check for a dead socket makes sense only if there are no
-           handles in pipeline and the connection isn't already marked in
-           use */
-        bool dead;
-        if(check->handler->protocol & CURLPROTO_RTSP)
-          /* RTSP is a special case due to RTP interleaving */
-          dead = Curl_rtsp_connisdead(check);
-        else
-          dead = SocketIsDead(check->sock[FIRSTSOCKET]);
-
-        if(dead) {
-          check->data = data;
-          infof(data, "Connection %ld seems to be dead!\n",
-                check->connection_id);
-
-          /* disconnect resources */
-          Curl_disconnect(check, /* dead_connection */ TRUE);
-          continue;
-        }
-      }
-
       if(canPipeline) {
         /* Make sure the pipe has only GET requests */
         struct SessionHandle* sh = gethandleathead(check->send_pipe);
@@ -5460,6 +5504,8 @@ static CURLcode create_conn(struct SessionHandle *data,
     goto out;
   }
 
+  prune_dead_connections(data);
+
   /*************************************************************
    * Check the current list of connections to see if we can
    * re-use an already existing one or if we have to create a