diff --git a/ws4py/websocket.py b/ws4py/websocket.py
index 61f8c33..f6a0f3b 100644
--- a/ws4py/websocket.py
+++ b/ws4py/websocket.py
@@ -223,11 +223,13 @@ def close_connection(self):
         if self.sock:
             try:
                 self.sock.shutdown(socket.SHUT_RDWR)
+            except:
+                pass
+            try:
                 self.sock.close()
             except:
                 pass
-            finally:
-                self.sock = None
+            self.sock = None
 
     def ping(self, message):
         """