diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 9f041727..4e0c029d 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ What's new in psycopg 2.4.7
 
   - Work around `pip issue #1630 <https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/1630>`__
     making installation via ``pip -e git+url`` impossible (:ticket:`#18`).
+  - It is now possible to call `get_transaction_status()` on closed
+    connections.
   - Properly cleanup memory of broken connections (ticket #142).
   - Fixed build on Solaris 10 and 11 where the round() function is already
     declared (:ticket:`#146`).
@@ -20,8 +22,11 @@ What's new in psycopg 2.4.7
     failing to connect (from :ticket:`#192` discussion).
   - Don't segfault using poorly defined cursor subclasses which forgot to call
     the superclass init (:ticket:`#195`).
+  - Mark the connection closed when a Socket connection is broken, as it
+    happens for TCP connections instead (:ticket:`#196`).
   - Fixed overflow opening a lobject with an oid not fitting in a signed int
     (:ticket:`#203`).
+  - Mark the connection closed if found broken on `poll()`.
   - Fixed possible segfault in named cursors creation.
   - Fixed debug build on Windows, thanks to James Emerton.
 
diff --git a/doc/src/connection.rst b/doc/src/connection.rst
index a82d4e7f..93d65ebd 100644
--- a/doc/src/connection.rst
+++ b/doc/src/connection.rst
@@ -283,8 +283,8 @@ The ``connection`` class
 
     .. attribute:: closed
 
-        Read-only attribute reporting whether the database connection is open
-        (0) or closed (1).
+        Read-only integer attribute: 0 if the connection is open, nonzero if
+        it is closed or broken.
 
 
     .. method:: cancel
diff --git a/psycopg/connection_type.c b/psycopg/connection_type.c
index 368c907f..90b3af79 100644
--- a/psycopg/connection_type.c
+++ b/psycopg/connection_type.c
@@ -647,8 +647,6 @@ psyco_conn_set_client_encoding(connectionObject *self, PyObject *args)
 static PyObject *
 psyco_conn_get_transaction_status(connectionObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
-    EXC_IF_CONN_CLOSED(self);
-
     return PyInt_FromLong((long)PQtransactionStatus(self->pgconn));
 }
 
diff --git a/psycopg/lobject_int.c b/psycopg/lobject_int.c
index 2f78e90b..43f2b179 100644
--- a/psycopg/lobject_int.c
+++ b/psycopg/lobject_int.c
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ lobject_close_locked(lobjectObject *self, char **error)
         return 0;
         break;
     default:
-        PyErr_SetString(OperationalError, "the connection is broken");
+        *error = strdup("the connection is broken");
         return -1;
         break;
     }
diff --git a/psycopg/lobject_type.c b/psycopg/lobject_type.c
index 4a47721f..fad48a20 100644
--- a/psycopg/lobject_type.c
+++ b/psycopg/lobject_type.c
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ lobject_dealloc(PyObject* obj)
 {
     lobjectObject *self = (lobjectObject *)obj;
 
-    if (self->conn) {   /* if not, init failed */
+    if (self->conn && self->fd != -1) {
         if (lobject_close(self) < 0)
             PyErr_Print();
         Py_XDECREF((PyObject*)self->conn);
diff --git a/psycopg/pqpath.c b/psycopg/pqpath.c
index 7290ad33..17f7a972 100644
--- a/psycopg/pqpath.c
+++ b/psycopg/pqpath.c
@@ -388,12 +388,22 @@ pq_complete_error(connectionObject *conn, PGresult **pgres, char **error)
 {
     Dprintf("pq_complete_error: pgconn = %p, pgres = %p, error = %s",
             conn->pgconn, *pgres, *error ? *error : "(null)");
-    if (*pgres != NULL)
+    if (*pgres != NULL) {
         pq_raise(conn, NULL, *pgres);
-    else if (*error != NULL) {
-        PyErr_SetString(OperationalError, *error);
     } else {
-        PyErr_SetString(OperationalError, "unknown error");
+        if (*error != NULL) {
+            PyErr_SetString(OperationalError, *error);
+        } else {
+            PyErr_SetString(OperationalError, "unknown error");
+        }
+        /* Trivia: with a broken socket connection PQexec returns NULL, so we
+         * end up here. With a TCP connection we get a pgres with an error
+         * instead, and the connection gets closed in the pq_raise call above
+         * (see ticket #196)
+         */
+        if (CONNECTION_BAD == PQstatus(conn->pgconn)) {
+            conn->closed = 2;
+        }
     }
     IFCLEARPGRES(*pgres);
     if (*error) {
@@ -764,6 +774,12 @@ pq_is_busy(connectionObject *conn)
         Dprintf("pq_is_busy: PQconsumeInput() failed");
         pthread_mutex_unlock(&(conn->lock));
         Py_BLOCK_THREADS;
+
+        /* if the libpq says pgconn is lost, close the py conn */
+        if (CONNECTION_BAD == PQstatus(conn->pgconn)) {
+            conn->closed = 2;
+        }
+
         PyErr_SetString(OperationalError, PQerrorMessage(conn->pgconn));
         return -1;
     }
@@ -793,6 +809,12 @@ pq_is_busy_locked(connectionObject *conn)
 
     if (PQconsumeInput(conn->pgconn) == 0) {
         Dprintf("pq_is_busy_locked: PQconsumeInput() failed");
+
+        /* if the libpq says pgconn is lost, close the py conn */
+        if (CONNECTION_BAD == PQstatus(conn->pgconn)) {
+            conn->closed = 2;
+        }
+
         PyErr_SetString(OperationalError, PQerrorMessage(conn->pgconn));
         return -1;
     }
diff --git a/tests/test_lobject.py b/tests/test_lobject.py
index 597e07c3..01607aab 100755
--- a/tests/test_lobject.py
+++ b/tests/test_lobject.py
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ class LargeObjectTests(LargeObjectMixin, unittest.TestCase):
 
         self.assertRaises(psycopg2.OperationalError,
                           self.conn.lobject, 0, "w", lo.oid)
+        self.assert_(not self.conn.closed)
 
     def test_import(self):
         self.tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()