diff --git a/zyklonb.c b/zyklonb.c
index f8d931a..8f8bcda 100644
--- a/zyklonb.c
+++ b/zyklonb.c
@@ -270,6 +270,7 @@ irc_send (struct bot_context *ctx, const char *format, ...)
 static bool
 irc_initialize_ssl (struct bot_context *ctx, struct error **e)
 {
+	const char *error_info = NULL;
 	ctx->ssl_ctx = SSL_CTX_new (SSLv23_client_method ());
 	if (!ctx->ssl_ctx)
 		goto error_ssl_1;
@@ -300,8 +301,16 @@ irc_initialize_ssl (struct bot_context *ctx, struct error **e)
 		goto error_ssl_3;
 	// Avoid SSL_write() returning SSL_ERROR_WANT_READ
 	SSL_set_mode (ctx->ssl, SSL_MODE_AUTO_RETRY);
-	if (SSL_connect (ctx->ssl) > 0)
+
+	switch (xssl_get_error (ctx->ssl, SSL_connect (ctx->ssl), &error_info))
+	{
+	case SSL_ERROR_NONE:
 		return true;
+	case SSL_ERROR_ZERO_RETURN:
+		error_info = "server closed the connection";
+	default:
+		break;
+	}
 
 error_ssl_3:
 	SSL_free (ctx->ssl);
@@ -312,8 +321,9 @@ error_ssl_2:
 error_ssl_1:
 	// XXX: these error strings are really nasty; also there could be
 	//   multiple errors on the OpenSSL stack.
-	error_set (e, "%s: %s", "could not initialize SSL",
-		ERR_error_string (ERR_get_error (), NULL));
+	if (!error_info)
+		error_info = ERR_error_string (ERR_get_error (), NULL);
+	error_set (e, "%s: %s", "could not initialize SSL", error_info);
 	return false;
 }