diff --git a/pycassa/pool.py b/pycassa/pool.py
index 087d55eb..3d1772b3 100644
--- a/pycassa/pool.py
+++ b/pycassa/pool.py
@@ -383,6 +383,8 @@ def _get_next_server(self):
     def _create_connection(self):
         """Creates a ConnectionWrapper, which opens a
         pycassa.connection.Connection."""
+        if not self.server_list:
+            raise AllServersUnavailable('Cannot connect to any servers as server list is empty!')
         failure_count = 0
         while failure_count < 2 * len(self.server_list):
             try:
diff --git a/tests/test_connection_pooling.py b/tests/test_connection_pooling.py
index 29dcaa43..e38a8b28 100644
--- a/tests/test_connection_pooling.py
+++ b/tests/test_connection_pooling.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 from nose.tools import assert_raises, assert_equal
 from pycassa import ColumnFamily, ConnectionPool, PoolListener, InvalidRequestError,\
-                    NoConnectionAvailable, MaximumRetryException
+                    NoConnectionAvailable, MaximumRetryException, AllServersUnavailable
 
 _credentials = {'username':'jsmith', 'password':'havebadpass'}
 
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ def test_basic_pools(self):
         cf.insert('key1', {'col':'val'})
         pool.dispose()
 
+    def test_empty_list(self):
+        assert_raises(AllServersUnavailable, ConnectionPool, 'PycassaTestKeyspace', server_list=[])
+
     def test_server_list_func(self):
         listener = _TestListener()
         pool = ConnectionPool('PycassaTestKeyspace', server_list=_get_list,