diff --git a/src/cluster.c b/src/cluster.c
index 7f9047a94..821fe1734 100644
--- a/src/cluster.c
+++ b/src/cluster.c
@@ -2825,6 +2825,12 @@ void clusterCron(void) {
             fd = anetTcpNonBlockBindConnect(server.neterr, node->ip,
                 node->port+REDIS_CLUSTER_PORT_INCR, REDIS_BIND_ADDR);
             if (fd == -1) {
+                /* We got a synchronous error from connect before
+                 * clusterSendPing() had a chance to be called.
+                 * If node->ping_sent is zero, failure detection can't work,
+                 * so we claim we actually sent a ping now (that will
+                 * be really sent as soon as the link is obtained). */
+                if (node->ping_sent == 0) node->ping_sent = mstime();
                 redisLog(REDIS_DEBUG, "Unable to connect to "
                     "Cluster Node [%s]:%d -> %s", node->ip,
                     node->port+REDIS_CLUSTER_PORT_INCR,