diff --git a/orochi/backends/mpd.py b/orochi/backends/mpd.py
index 51680dd..f282b0d 100644
--- a/orochi/backends/mpd.py
+++ b/orochi/backends/mpd.py
@@ -5,12 +5,13 @@
 """
 from __future__ import print_function, division, absolute_import, unicode_literals
 
+import contextlib
+import functools
+import logging
 import os
 import select
+import socket
 import threading
-import functools
-import logging
-import contextlib
 
 import mpd
 
@@ -151,11 +152,17 @@ def connection(self):
         Context manager to connect to and disconnect from MPD.
         """
         try:
-            self.client.connect(self.host, self.port)
+            try:
+                self.client.connect(self.host, self.port)
+            except (mpd.ConnectionError, socket.error) as e:
+                raise errors.InitializationError('Could not connect to mpd: %s' % e)
             yield
         finally:
-            self.client.close()
-            self.client.disconnect()
+            try:
+                self.client.close()
+                self.client.disconnect()
+            except mpd.ConnectionError:
+                pass
 
     @catch_mpd_error('Could not load & play song.')
     def load(self, path):