diff --git a/packages/pg/lib/client.js b/packages/pg/lib/client.js
index 527f62e4f..ae4fb2757 100644
--- a/packages/pg/lib/client.js
+++ b/packages/pg/lib/client.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ var Query = require('./query')
 var defaults = require('./defaults')
 var Connection = require('./connection')
 const crypto = require('./crypto/utils')
+const { ConnectionTimeoutError } = './utils'
 
 class Client extends EventEmitter {
   constructor(config) {
@@ -102,7 +103,7 @@ class Client extends EventEmitter {
     if (this._connectionTimeoutMillis > 0) {
       this.connectionTimeoutHandle = setTimeout(() => {
         con._ending = true
-        con.stream.destroy(new Error('timeout expired'))
+        con.stream.destroy(new ConnectionTimeoutError('timeout expired'))
       }, this._connectionTimeoutMillis)
     }
 
diff --git a/packages/pg/lib/utils.js b/packages/pg/lib/utils.js
index 3bcc4e525..bac1b513c 100644
--- a/packages/pg/lib/utils.js
+++ b/packages/pg/lib/utils.js
@@ -194,6 +194,14 @@ const escapeLiteral = function (str) {
   return escaped
 }
 
+class ConnectionTimeoutError extends Error {
+  constructor(message) {
+    super(message)
+    this.name = 'ConnectionTimeoutError'
+    this.code = 'CONNECTION_TIMEOUT'
+  }
+}
+
 module.exports = {
   prepareValue: function prepareValueWrapper(value) {
     // this ensures that extra arguments do not get passed into prepareValue
@@ -203,4 +211,5 @@ module.exports = {
   normalizeQueryConfig,
   escapeIdentifier,
   escapeLiteral,
+  ConnectionTimeoutError,
 }
diff --git a/packages/pg/test/integration/client/connection-timeout-tests.js b/packages/pg/test/integration/client/connection-timeout-tests.js
index 3d6b83664..35737c4a8 100644
--- a/packages/pg/test/integration/client/connection-timeout-tests.js
+++ b/packages/pg/test/integration/client/connection-timeout-tests.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ const net = require('net')
 const buffers = require('../../test-buffers')
 const helper = require('./test-helper')
 const assert = require('assert')
-
+const { ConnectionTimeoutError } = require('../../../lib/utils')
 const suite = new helper.Suite()
 
 const options = {
@@ -71,19 +71,23 @@ suite.test('expired connection timeout', (done) => {
   const opts = { ...options, port: options.port + 1 }
   serverWithConnectionTimeout(opts.port, opts.connectionTimeoutMillis * 2, (closeServer) => {
     const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => {
-      throw new Error('Client should have emitted an error but it did not.')
+      done(new Error('Client should have emitted an error but it did not.'))
     }, 3000)
 
     const client = new helper.Client(opts)
     client
       .connect()
-      .then(() => client.end())
-      .then(() => closeServer(() => done(new Error('Connection timeout should have expired but it did not.'))))
+      .then(() => {
+        clearTimeout(timeoutId)
+        return client
+          .end()
+          .then(() => closeServer(() => done(new Error('Connection timeout should have expired but it did not.'))))
+      })
       .catch((err) => {
-        assert(err instanceof Error)
-        assert(/timeout expired\s*/.test(err.message))
+        clearTimeout(timeoutId)
+        assert(err instanceof ConnectionTimeoutError)
+        assert.strictEqual(err.code, 'CONNECTION_TIMEOUT')
         closeServer(done)
       })
-      .then(() => clearTimeout(timeoutId))
   })
 })