diff --git a/trunk/ripnews/news/article.rb b/trunk/ripnews/news/article.rb
index d7a0737..68e1056 100644
--- a/trunk/ripnews/news/article.rb
+++ b/trunk/ripnews/news/article.rb
@@ -163,7 +163,9 @@ def initialize(nntpservers, groupname, newsrc="~/.newsrc")
 			set_skip_ids(server, @connections[server]["newsrc"].marked_articles(@group))
 		rescue SocketError, Errno::EINVAL, EOFError, Errno::ETIMEDOUT
 			puts "Connection to #{server} failed: #{$!}"
-			@connections[server]["nntp"].quit
+			if ! @connections[server]["nntp"].nil?
+				@connections[server]["nntp"].quit
+			end
 			del_server(server)
 		end
 	}