diff --git a/autoloader.php b/autoloader.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1bf112
--- /dev/null
+++ b/autoloader.php
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+<?php
+spl_autoload_register(
+	function ($className)
+	{
+		$ds = DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
+		$className = str_replace('js\\tools\\dbhandler', '', $className);
+		$className = str_replace('\\', $ds, $className);
+		$className = trim($className, $ds);
+		
+		$path = __DIR__ . $ds . 'src' . $ds . $className . '.php';
+		
+		if (!is_readable($path))
+		{
+			return false;
+		}
+		
+		require $path;
+		return true;
+	},
+	true
+);
diff --git a/src/Handler.php b/src/Handler.php
index a79fc59..a4864d8 100644
--- a/src/Handler.php
+++ b/src/Handler.php
@@ -33,13 +33,16 @@ public static function getConnection($name = 'default', array $connectionParamet
 			throw new DbException('Invalid connection name ' . var_export($name, true));
 		}
 		
-		/** @var Handler[] */
+		/** @var Handler[] $connections */
 		static $connections = [];
 		
 		if (isset($connections[$name]))
 		{
 			// existing connection, check if it is valid and if not - try to reconnect
-			$connections[$name]->checkConnection();
+			if (!$connections[$name]->checkConnection())
+			{
+				$connections[$name]->connect();
+			}
 		}
 		else
 		{
@@ -82,9 +85,10 @@ private function __construct($name, $connectionParameters, $customOptions)
 		$options = array_merge($defaultOptions, $customOptions);
 		
 		$this->name = $name;
-		$this->connection = self::connect($connectionParameters, $options);
 		$this->connectionParameters = $connectionParameters;
 		$this->connectionOptions = $options;
+		
+		$this->connect();
 	}
 	
 	private function __clone()
@@ -286,36 +290,49 @@ public function getLastInsertId()
 		return $this->connection->lastInsertId();
 	}
 	
-	private function checkConnection()
+	public function checkConnection()
 	{
 		try
 		{
-			$sum = $this->connection->query('SELECT 1 + 1')->fetchColumn(0);
+			// this throws an error (not an exception) if the connection has gone away;
+			// needs to be suppressed because we want only exceptions
+			$sum = @$this->connection->query('SELECT 1 + 1');
+			
+			if ($sum instanceof \PDOStatement)
+			{
+				$sum = $sum->fetchColumn(0);
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				$sum = 0;
+			}
 			
 			if (intval($sum) !== 2)
 			{
-				// Invalid result, try reconnecting because something is clearly wrong.
-				$this->connection = self::connect($this->connectionParameters, $this->connectionOptions);
+				// Invalid result, something is clearly wrong.
+				return false;
 			}
 		}
 		catch (\Exception $e)
 		{
-			// Connection may have timed out, try reconnecting.
+			// Connection may have timed out.
 			// There is no single standard SQLSTATE code for "connection timed out", nor is there a built-in way to check this,
 			// so we can only guess that that's what happened.
-			$this->connection = self::connect($this->connectionParameters, $this->connectionOptions);
+			return false;
 		}
+		
+		return true;
 	}
 	
-	private static function connect($connectionParameters, $connectionOptions)
+	public function connect()
 	{
 		try
 		{
-			return new \PDO(
-				self::buildDNSString($connectionParameters),
-				$connectionParameters['username'],
-				$connectionParameters['password'],
-				$connectionOptions
+			$this->connection = new \PDO(
+				self::buildDNSString($this->connectionParameters),
+				$this->connectionParameters['username'],
+				$this->connectionParameters['password'],
+				$this->connectionOptions
 			);
 		}
 		catch (\PDOException $e)
diff --git a/test.php b/test.php
index 0a5142c..edb593b 100644
--- a/test.php
+++ b/test.php
@@ -1,28 +1,6 @@
 <?php
-// composer code:
-// require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
-// non-composer code (can run this in console immediately):
-spl_autoload_register(
-	function ($className)
-	{
-		$ds = DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
-		$className = str_replace('js\\tools\\dbhandler', '', $className);
-		$className = str_replace('\\', $ds, $className);
-		$className = trim($className, $ds);
-		
-		$path = __DIR__ . $ds . 'src' . $ds . $className . '.php';
-		
-		if (!is_readable($path))
-		{
-			return false;
-		}
-		
-		require $path;
-		return true;
-	},
-	true
-);
-// common code:
+require 'autoloader.php';
+
 use js\tools\dbhandler\exceptions\DbException;
 use js\tools\dbhandler\exceptions\QueryException;
 use js\tools\dbhandler\Handler;
diff --git a/test_mysql_timeout.php b/test_mysql_timeout.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b84dce8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_mysql_timeout.php
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+<?php
+require 'autoloader.php';
+
+use js\tools\dbhandler\exceptions\DbException;
+use js\tools\dbhandler\Handler;
+
+try
+{
+	// TODO set your own test connection parameters!
+	$handler = Handler::getConnection('test', [
+		'driver' => 'mysql',
+		'username' => 'test',
+		'password' => 'test',
+		'database' => 'test',
+	]);
+	// this is the mysql.ini variable that should be adjusted according to needs
+	// but it works via query as well
+	$handler->exec('SET SESSION wait_timeout = 1');
+	
+	echo 'connection timeout set to 1 second, sleeping', PHP_EOL;
+	sleep(3);
+	
+	if ($handler->checkConnection())
+	{
+		echo 'connection is good', PHP_EOL;
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		echo 'connection is down, reconnecting', PHP_EOL;
+		$handler->connect();
+	}
+	
+	if ($handler->checkConnection())
+	{
+		echo 'connection is now good', PHP_EOL;
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		echo 'connection is still down, failed to reconnect', PHP_EOL;
+	}
+}
+catch (DbException $e)
+{
+	echo $e->getMessage(), PHP_EOL;
+	die();
+}