diff --git a/lib/appenders/tcp.js b/lib/appenders/tcp.js
index dd24749..aa41a3e 100644
--- a/lib/appenders/tcp.js
+++ b/lib/appenders/tcp.js
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ function appender(config, layout) {
       emptyBuffer();
     });
     socket.on('timeout', socket.end.bind(socket));
-    // don't bother listening for 'error', 'close' gets called after that anyway
+    socket.on('error', (e) => {
+      debug('connection error', e);
+      canWrite = false;
+      emptyBuffer();
+    })
     socket.on('close', createSocket);
   }