diff --git a/Doc/reference/ldap.rst b/Doc/reference/ldap.rst
index d059dfa4..733beb09 100644
--- a/Doc/reference/ldap.rst
+++ b/Doc/reference/ldap.rst
@@ -972,6 +972,16 @@ and wait for and return with the server's result, or with
    The *dn* and *attr* arguments are text strings; see :ref:`bytes_mode`.
 
 
+.. py:method:: LDAPObject.connect() -> None
+
+  Opens a connection to the server if one is not established already. If that
+  fails, an instance of :py:exc:`ldap.LDAPError` or appropriate subtype is
+  raised.
+
+  Requires libldap 2.5+ and will fail with :py:exc:`NotImplementedError`
+  if that is not met.
+
+
 .. py:method:: LDAPObject.delete(dn) -> int
 
 .. py:method::  LDAPObject.delete_s(dn) -> None
diff --git a/Lib/ldap/ldapobject.py b/Lib/ldap/ldapobject.py
index 7a9c17f6..946d0882 100644
--- a/Lib/ldap/ldapobject.py
+++ b/Lib/ldap/ldapobject.py
@@ -171,6 +171,13 @@ def fileno(self):
     """
     return self.get_option(ldap.OPT_DESC)
 
+  def connect(self):
+    """
+    connect() -> None
+        Establishes LDAP connection if needed.
+    """
+    return self._ldap_call(self._l.connect)
+
   def abandon_ext(self,msgid,serverctrls=None,clientctrls=None):
     """
     abandon_ext(msgid[,serverctrls=None[,clientctrls=None]]) -> None
diff --git a/Modules/LDAPObject.c b/Modules/LDAPObject.c
index da18d575..eb8f3344 100644
--- a/Modules/LDAPObject.c
+++ b/Modules/LDAPObject.c
@@ -1505,6 +1505,38 @@ l_ldap_extended_operation(LDAPObject *self, PyObject *args)
     return PyInt_FromLong(msgid);
 }
 
+/* ldap_connect */
+
+static PyObject *
+l_ldap_connect(LDAPObject *self, PyObject Py_UNUSED(args))
+{
+#if LDAP_VENDOR_VERSION >= 20500
+    int ldaperror;
+
+    if (ldap_version_info.ldapai_vendor_version < 20500)
+#endif
+    {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_NotImplementedError,
+            "loaded libldap doesn't support this feature");
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+#if LDAP_VENDOR_VERSION >= 20500
+    if (not_valid(self))
+        return NULL;
+
+    LDAP_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS(self);
+    ldaperror = ldap_connect(self->ldap);
+    LDAP_END_ALLOW_THREADS(self);
+
+    if ( ldaperror != LDAP_SUCCESS )
+        return LDAPerror(self->ldap);
+
+    Py_INCREF(Py_None);
+    return Py_None;
+#endif
+}
+
 /* methods */
 
 static PyMethodDef methods[] = {
@@ -1534,6 +1566,7 @@ static PyMethodDef methods[] = {
     {"cancel", (PyCFunction)l_ldap_cancel, METH_VARARGS},
 #endif
     {"extop", (PyCFunction)l_ldap_extended_operation, METH_VARARGS},
+    {"connect", (PyCFunction)l_ldap_connect, METH_NOARGS},
     {NULL, NULL}
 };
 
diff --git a/Modules/constants.c b/Modules/constants.c
index 8d6f63b0..6449e1df 100644
--- a/Modules/constants.c
+++ b/Modules/constants.c
@@ -231,6 +231,14 @@ LDAPinit_constants(PyObject *m)
     if (PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "LIBLDAP_R", thread_safe) != 0)
         return -1;
 
+    if (ldap_get_option(NULL, LDAP_OPT_API_INFO, &ldap_version_info) != LDAP_SUCCESS) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError, "unrecognised libldap version");
+        return -1;
+    }
+    if (PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "_VENDOR_VERSION_RUNTIME",
+                ldap_version_info.ldapai_vendor_version ) != 0)
+        return -1;
+
     /* Generated constants -- see Lib/ldap/constants.py */
 
 #define add_err(n) do {  \
diff --git a/Modules/constants.h b/Modules/constants.h
index 7b9ce53e..fe34a12a 100644
--- a/Modules/constants.h
+++ b/Modules/constants.h
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ extern PyObject *LDAPerror(LDAP *);
 extern PyObject *LDAPraise_for_message(LDAP *, LDAPMessage *m);
 PyObject *LDAPerr(int errnum);
 
+extern LDAPAPIInfo ldap_version_info;
+
 #ifndef LDAP_CONTROL_PAGE_OID
 #define LDAP_CONTROL_PAGE_OID "1.2.840.113556.1.4.319"
 #endif /* !LDAP_CONTROL_PAGE_OID */
diff --git a/Modules/ldapmodule.c b/Modules/ldapmodule.c
index 34d5a24c..c2285784 100644
--- a/Modules/ldapmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/ldapmodule.c
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ PyMODINIT_FUNC init_ldap(void);
 #define _STR(x)        #x
 #define STR(x) _STR(x)
 
+LDAPAPIInfo ldap_version_info = {
+    .ldapai_info_version = LDAP_API_INFO_VERSION,
+};
+
 static char version_str[] = STR(LDAPMODULE_VERSION);
 static char author_str[] = STR(LDAPMODULE_AUTHOR);
 static char license_str[] = STR(LDAPMODULE_LICENSE);
diff --git a/Tests/t_cext.py b/Tests/t_cext.py
index 33fbf29a..846127f8 100644
--- a/Tests/t_cext.py
+++ b/Tests/t_cext.py
@@ -280,6 +280,29 @@ def test_simple_anonymous_bind(self):
         self.assertEqual(pmsg, [])
         self.assertEqual(ctrls, [])
 
+    @unittest.skipUnless(
+        _ldap.VENDOR_VERSION >= 20500 and \
+            _ldap._VENDOR_VERSION_RUNTIME >= 20500,
+        reason="Test requires libldap 2.5+"
+    )
+    def test_connect(self):
+        l = self._open_conn(bind=False)
+        invalid_fileno = l.get_option(_ldap.OPT_DESC)
+        l.connect()
+        fileno = l.get_option(_ldap.OPT_DESC)
+        self.assertNotEqual(invalid_fileno, fileno)
+
+        self._bind_conn(l)
+
+    @unittest.skipUnless(
+        _ldap._VENDOR_VERSION_RUNTIME < 20500,
+        reason="Test requires linking to libldap < 2.5"
+    )
+    def test_connect_notimpl(self):
+        l = self._open_conn(bind=False)
+        with self.assertRaises(NotImplementedError):
+            l.connect()
+
     def test_anon_rootdse_search(self):
         l = self._open_conn(bind=False)
         # see if we can get the rootdse with anon search (without prior bind)