diff --git a/libraries/WiFi/src/WiFiClient.cpp b/libraries/WiFi/src/WiFiClient.cpp
index 8e0edf80f69..ee704c2dbca 100644
--- a/libraries/WiFi/src/WiFiClient.cpp
+++ b/libraries/WiFi/src/WiFiClient.cpp
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ int WiFiClient::connect(IPAddress ip, uint16_t port, int32_t timeout_ms)
     FD_ZERO(&fdset);
     FD_SET(sockfd, &fdset);
     tv.tv_sec = _timeout / 1000;
-    tv.tv_usec = 0;
+    tv.tv_usec = (_timeout  % 1000) * 1000;
 
 #ifdef ESP_IDF_VERSION_MAJOR
     int res = lwip_connect(sockfd, (struct sockaddr*)&serveraddr, sizeof(serveraddr));