diff --git a/arcp-client/src/main/java/dev/arcp/client/WebSocketTransport.java b/arcp-client/src/main/java/dev/arcp/client/WebSocketTransport.java
index c6434d4..8d9ccbd 100644
--- a/arcp-client/src/main/java/dev/arcp/client/WebSocketTransport.java
+++ b/arcp-client/src/main/java/dev/arcp/client/WebSocketTransport.java
@@ -127,8 +127,12 @@ public void onError(WebSocket webSocket, Throwable error) {
       }
       throw new IllegalStateException("WebSocket connect failed: " + cause, cause);
     } catch (java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException e) {
+      // Abandon the in-flight handshake without waiting on it: close() blocks until the operation
+      // completes, and against a server that accepts but never finishes the upgrade the JDK client
+      // retries on EOF — close() would turn the configured timeout into an indefinite hang (#113).
+      stage.cancel(true);
       try {
-        httpClient.close();
+        httpClient.shutdownNow();
       } catch (RuntimeException ignored) {
         // best-effort
       }
diff --git a/arcp-client/src/test/java/dev/arcp/client/WebSocketConnectTimeoutTest.java b/arcp-client/src/test/java/dev/arcp/client/WebSocketConnectTimeoutTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..075b43c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arcp-client/src/test/java/dev/arcp/client/WebSocketConnectTimeoutTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+package dev.arcp.client;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
+
+import dev.arcp.core.wire.ArcpMapper;
+import java.net.ServerSocket;
+import java.net.Socket;
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Timeout;
+
+/**
+ * #113: a server that accepts the TCP connection but never completes the HTTP upgrade must not turn
+ * the configured connect timeout into an indefinite hang — the JDK client retries on EOF, and
+ * {@code HttpClient.close()} waits for the abandoned handshake.
+ */
+class WebSocketConnectTimeoutTest {
+
+  @Test
+  @Timeout(15)
+  void connectThrowsPromptlyAgainstSilentServer() throws Exception {
+    AtomicBoolean running = new AtomicBoolean(true);
+    try (ServerSocket silent = new ServerSocket(0)) {
+      Thread accepter =
+          Thread.ofVirtual()
+              .start(
+                  () -> {
+                    while (running.get()) {
+                      try {
+                        Socket s = silent.accept();
+                        // Read and discard the upgrade request; never respond.
+                        s.getInputStream().read(new byte[4096]);
+                      } catch (java.io.IOException e) {
+                        return;
+                      }
+                    }
+                  });
+      URI uri = URI.create("ws://127.0.0.1:" + silent.getLocalPort() + "/arcp");
+      long start = System.nanoTime();
+      assertThatThrownBy(
+              () ->
+                  WebSocketTransport.connect(
+                      uri, Map.of(), ArcpMapper.shared(), Duration.ofMillis(500)))
+          .isInstanceOf(IllegalStateException.class)
+          .hasMessageContaining("timed out");
+      long elapsedMillis = (System.nanoTime() - start) / 1_000_000;
+      // The hang fixed by #113 was unbounded; allow generous slack for slow CI but require the
+      // call to return in the same order of magnitude as the configured 500ms timeout.
+      assertThat(elapsedMillis).isLessThan(10_000);
+      running.set(false);
+      accepter.interrupt();
+    }
+  }
+}