diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index b28f6da..8cbd6d7 100755
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,11 @@
 begin; require 'ruby-debug'; rescue LoadError; end
 
 begin
-  @test_client = Cassandra.new('Twitter', 'localhost:9160', {:exception_classes => []})
+  @test_client = Cassandra.new('Twitter', 'localhost:9160', :thrift_client_options => {
+    :retries         => 3,
+    :timeout         => 5,
+    :connect_timeout => 1
+  })
 rescue Thrift::TransportException => e
   #FIXME Make server automatically start if not running
   if e.message =~ /Could not connect/