diff --git a/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocket.cpp b/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocket.cpp
index 2c9d50b8..fc4f88b4 100644
--- a/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocket.cpp
+++ b/ixwebsocket/IXWebSocket.cpp
@@ -229,13 +229,9 @@ namespace ix
         using millis = std::chrono::duration<double, std::milli>;
         millis duration;
 
-        while (true)
+        // Try to connect only once when we don't have automaticReconnection setup
+        if (!isConnected() && !_automaticReconnection && !_stop)
         {
-            if (isConnected() || isClosing() || _stop || !_automaticReconnection)
-            {
-                break;
-            }
-
             status = connect(_handshakeTimeoutSecs);
 
             if (!status.success && !_stop)
@@ -249,8 +245,33 @@ namespace ix
                 _onMessageCallback(WebSocket_MessageType_Error, "", 0,
                                    connectErr, WebSocketOpenInfo(),
                                    WebSocketCloseInfo());
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            while (true)
+            {
+                if (isConnected() || isClosing() || _stop || !_automaticReconnection)
+                {
+                    break;
+                }
 
-                std::this_thread::sleep_for(duration);
+                status = connect(_handshakeTimeoutSecs);
+
+                if (!status.success && !_stop)
+                {
+                    duration = millis(calculateRetryWaitMilliseconds(retries++));
+
+                    connectErr.retries = retries;
+                    connectErr.wait_time = duration.count();
+                    connectErr.reason = status.errorStr;
+                    connectErr.http_status = status.http_status;
+                    _onMessageCallback(WebSocket_MessageType_Error, "", 0,
+                                       connectErr, WebSocketOpenInfo(),
+                                       WebSocketCloseInfo());
+
+                    std::this_thread::sleep_for(duration);
+                }
             }
         }
     }
@@ -317,7 +338,7 @@ namespace ix
             // 4. In blocking mode, getting out of this function is triggered by
             //    an explicit disconnection from the callback, or by the remote end
             //    closing the connection, ie isConnected() == false.
-            if (!_thread.joinable() && !isConnected() && !_automaticReconnection) return;
+            if (!isConnected() && !_automaticReconnection) return;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/ws/ws_connect.cpp b/ws/ws_connect.cpp
index 5794d0da..55332eb0 100644
--- a/ws/ws_connect.cpp
+++ b/ws/ws_connect.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ namespace ix
             std::cout << "Disabling automatic reconnection with "
                          "_webSocket.disableAutomaticReconnection()"
                          " not supported yet" << std::endl;
+            _webSocket.disableAutomaticReconnection();
         }
     }