diff --git a/lib/py/src/transport/TSocket.py b/lib/py/src/transport/TSocket.py
index 3c7a3ca..eea5366 100644
--- a/lib/py/src/transport/TSocket.py
+++ b/lib/py/src/transport/TSocket.py
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@
                 if exc.errno in (errno.EWOULDBLOCK, errno.EAGAIN):
                     return True
                 return False
+            except ValueError:
+                # SSLSocket fails on recv with non-zero flags; fallback to the old behavior
+                return True
         finally:
             self.handle.settimeout(original_timeout)
 
diff --git a/lib/py/test/test_socket.py b/lib/py/test/test_socket.py
index 95124dc..b732653 100644
--- a/lib/py/test/test_socket.py
+++ b/lib/py/test/test_socket.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
             acc.start()
 
             sock = TSocket(host="localhost", port=acc.port)
+            self.assertFalse(sock.isOpen())
             sock.open()
             sock.setTimeout(timeout)
 
diff --git a/lib/py/test/test_sslsocket.py b/lib/py/test/test_sslsocket.py
index f4c87f1..3b77e39 100644
--- a/lib/py/test/test_sslsocket.py
+++ b/lib/py/test/test_sslsocket.py
@@ -158,7 +158,9 @@
     def _assert_connection_success(self, server, path=None, **client_args):
         with self._connectable_client(server, path=path, **client_args) as (acc, client):
             try:
+                self.assertFalse(client.isOpen())
                 client.open()
+                self.assertTrue(client.isOpen())
                 client.write(b"hello")
                 self.assertEqual(client.read(5), b"there")
                 self.assertTrue(acc.client is not None)