diff --git a/src/core/outlet_properties.ts b/src/core/outlet_properties.ts
index 704f6e33..4af436a4 100644
--- a/src/core/outlet_properties.ts
+++ b/src/core/outlet_properties.ts
@@ -10,26 +10,42 @@ export function OutletPropertiesBlessing<T>(constructor: Constructor<T>) {
   }, {} as PropertyDescriptorMap)
 }
 
+function getOutletController(controller: Controller, element: Element, identifier: string) {
+  return controller.application.getControllerForElementAndIdentifier(element, identifier)
+}
+
+function getControllerAndEnsureConnectedScope(controller: Controller, element: Element, outletName: string) {
+  let outletController = getOutletController(controller, element, outletName)
+  if (outletController) return outletController
+
+  controller.application.router.proposeToConnectScopeForElementAndIdentifier(element, outletName)
+
+  outletController = getOutletController(controller, element, outletName)
+  if (outletController) return outletController
+}
+
 function propertiesForOutletDefinition(name: string) {
   const camelizedName = namespaceCamelize(name)
 
   return {
     [`${camelizedName}Outlet`]: {
       get(this: Controller) {
-        const outlet = this.outlets.find(name)
-
-        if (outlet) {
-          const outletController = this.application.getControllerForElementAndIdentifier(outlet, name)
-          if (outletController) {
-            return outletController
-          } else {
-            throw new Error(
-              `Missing "${this.application.schema.controllerAttribute}=${name}" attribute on outlet element for "${this.identifier}" controller`
-            )
-          }
+        const outletElement = this.outlets.find(name)
+        const selector = this.outlets.getSelectorForOutletName(name)
+
+        if (outletElement) {
+          const outletController = getControllerAndEnsureConnectedScope(this, outletElement, name)
+
+          if (outletController) return outletController
+
+          throw new Error(
+            `The provided outlet element is missing an outlet controller "${name}" instance for host controller "${this.identifier}"`
+          )
         }
 
-        throw new Error(`Missing outlet element "${name}" for "${this.identifier}" controller`)
+        throw new Error(
+          `Missing outlet element "${name}" for host controller "${this.identifier}". Stimulus couldn't find a matching outlet element using selector "${selector}".`
+        )
       },
     },
 
@@ -39,16 +55,15 @@ function propertiesForOutletDefinition(name: string) {
 
         if (outlets.length > 0) {
           return outlets
-            .map((outlet: Element) => {
-              const controller = this.application.getControllerForElementAndIdentifier(outlet, name)
-              if (controller) {
-                return controller
-              } else {
-                console.warn(
-                  `The provided outlet element is missing the outlet controller "${name}" for "${this.identifier}"`,
-                  outlet
-                )
-              }
+            .map((outletElement: Element) => {
+              const outletController = getControllerAndEnsureConnectedScope(this, outletElement, name)
+
+              if (outletController) return outletController
+
+              console.warn(
+                `The provided outlet element is missing an outlet controller "${name}" instance for host controller "${this.identifier}"`,
+                outletElement
+              )
             })
             .filter((controller) => controller) as Controller[]
         }
@@ -59,11 +74,15 @@ function propertiesForOutletDefinition(name: string) {
 
     [`${camelizedName}OutletElement`]: {
       get(this: Controller) {
-        const outlet = this.outlets.find(name)
-        if (outlet) {
-          return outlet
+        const outletElement = this.outlets.find(name)
+        const selector = this.outlets.getSelectorForOutletName(name)
+
+        if (outletElement) {
+          return outletElement
         } else {
-          throw new Error(`Missing outlet element "${name}" for "${this.identifier}" controller`)
+          throw new Error(
+            `Missing outlet element "${name}" for host controller "${this.identifier}". Stimulus couldn't find a matching outlet element using selector "${selector}".`
+          )
         }
       },
     },
diff --git a/src/core/router.ts b/src/core/router.ts
index 6b63318d..d0d40a84 100644
--- a/src/core/router.ts
+++ b/src/core/router.ts
@@ -75,6 +75,16 @@ export class Router implements ScopeObserverDelegate {
     }
   }
 
+  proposeToConnectScopeForElementAndIdentifier(element: Element, identifier: string) {
+    const scope = this.scopeObserver.parseValueForElementAndIdentifier(element, identifier)
+
+    if (scope) {
+      this.scopeObserver.elementMatchedValue(scope.element, scope)
+    } else {
+      console.error(`Couldn't find or create scope for identifier: "${identifier}" and element:`, element)
+    }
+  }
+
   // Error handler delegate
 
   handleError(error: Error, message: string, detail: any) {
diff --git a/src/core/scope_observer.ts b/src/core/scope_observer.ts
index 6ddcd0ef..0349a24b 100644
--- a/src/core/scope_observer.ts
+++ b/src/core/scope_observer.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ export class ScopeObserver implements ValueListObserverDelegate<Scope> {
 
   parseValueForToken(token: Token): Scope | undefined {
     const { element, content: identifier } = token
+    return this.parseValueForElementAndIdentifier(element, identifier)
+  }
+
+  parseValueForElementAndIdentifier(element: Element, identifier: string): Scope | undefined {
     const scopesByIdentifier = this.fetchScopesByIdentifierForElement(element)
 
     let scope = scopesByIdentifier.get(identifier)
diff --git a/src/tests/controllers/outlet_controller.ts b/src/tests/controllers/outlet_controller.ts
index 261a4734..b382f80c 100644
--- a/src/tests/controllers/outlet_controller.ts
+++ b/src/tests/controllers/outlet_controller.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export class OutletController extends BaseOutletController {
     alphaOutletDisconnectedCallCount: Number,
     betaOutletConnectedCallCount: Number,
     betaOutletDisconnectedCallCount: Number,
+    betaOutletsInConnect: Number,
     gammaOutletConnectedCallCount: Number,
     gammaOutletDisconnectedCallCount: Number,
     namespacedEpsilonOutletConnectedCallCount: Number,
@@ -46,11 +47,16 @@ export class OutletController extends BaseOutletController {
   alphaOutletDisconnectedCallCountValue = 0
   betaOutletConnectedCallCountValue = 0
   betaOutletDisconnectedCallCountValue = 0
+  betaOutletsInConnectValue = 0
   gammaOutletConnectedCallCountValue = 0
   gammaOutletDisconnectedCallCountValue = 0
   namespacedEpsilonOutletConnectedCallCountValue = 0
   namespacedEpsilonOutletDisconnectedCallCountValue = 0
 
+  connect() {
+    this.betaOutletsInConnectValue = this.betaOutlets.length
+  }
+
   alphaOutletConnected(_outlet: Controller, element: Element) {
     if (this.hasConnectedClass) element.classList.add(this.connectedClass)
     this.alphaOutletConnectedCallCountValue++
diff --git a/src/tests/modules/core/outlet_order_tests.ts b/src/tests/modules/core/outlet_order_tests.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5d8bfcf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/modules/core/outlet_order_tests.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import { ControllerTestCase } from "../../cases/controller_test_case"
+import { OutletController } from "../../controllers/outlet_controller"
+
+const connectOrder: string[] = []
+
+class OutletOrderController extends OutletController {
+  connect() {
+    connectOrder.push(`${this.identifier}-${this.element.id}-start`)
+    super.connect()
+    connectOrder.push(`${this.identifier}-${this.element.id}-end`)
+  }
+}
+
+export default class OutletOrderTests extends ControllerTestCase(OutletOrderController) {
+  fixtureHTML = `
+    <div data-controller="alpha" id="alpha1" data-alpha-beta-outlet=".beta">Search</div>
+    <div data-controller="beta" id="beta-1" class="beta">Beta</div>
+    <div data-controller="beta" id="beta-2" class="beta">Beta</div>
+    <div data-controller="beta" id="beta-3" class="beta">Beta</div>
+  `
+
+  get identifiers() {
+    return ["alpha", "beta"]
+  }
+
+  async "test can access outlets in connect() even if they are referenced before they are connected"() {
+    this.assert.equal(this.controller.betaOutletsInConnectValue, 3)
+
+    this.controller.betaOutlets.forEach((outlet) => {
+      this.assert.equal(outlet.identifier, "beta")
+      this.assert.equal(Array.from(outlet.element.classList.values()), "beta")
+    })
+
+    this.assert.deepEqual(connectOrder, [
+      "alpha-alpha1-start",
+      "beta-beta-1-start",
+      "beta-beta-1-end",
+      "beta-beta-2-start",
+      "beta-beta-2-end",
+      "beta-beta-3-start",
+      "beta-beta-3-end",
+      "alpha-alpha1-end",
+    ])
+  }
+}