diff --git a/Lib/smtplib.py b/Lib/smtplib.py
index 3c5ac75ab8abe23..2545f7dca84802b 100755
--- a/Lib/smtplib.py
+++ b/Lib/smtplib.py
@@ -319,6 +319,7 @@ def connect(self, host='localhost', port=0, source_address=None):
         specified during instantiation.
 
         """
+        self._host = host
 
         if source_address:
             self.source_address = source_address