diff --git a/changes/bug4950 b/changes/bug4950
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d91ec46beb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/bug4950
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+  o Major bugfixes:
+    - Set the SO_REUSEADDR socket option before we call bind() on outgoing
+      connections. This change should allow busy exit relays to stop
+      running out of available sockets as quickly. Fixes bug 4950;
+      bugfix on 0.2.2.26-beta.
+
diff --git a/src/or/connection.c b/src/or/connection.c
index 462022dffd..c51e7fbeff 100644
--- a/src/or/connection.c
+++ b/src/or/connection.c
@@ -1338,6 +1338,8 @@ connection_connect(connection_t *conn, const char *address,
     return -1;
   }
 
+  make_socket_reuseable(s);
+
   if (options->OutboundBindAddress && !tor_addr_is_loopback(addr)) {
     struct sockaddr_in ext_addr;
 
@@ -1372,8 +1374,6 @@ connection_connect(connection_t *conn, const char *address,
   log_debug(LD_NET, "Connecting to %s:%u.",
             escaped_safe_str_client(address), port);
 
-  make_socket_reuseable(s);
-
   if (connect(s, dest_addr, (socklen_t)dest_addr_len) < 0) {
     int e = tor_socket_errno(s);
     if (!ERRNO_IS_CONN_EINPROGRESS(e)) {