diff --git a/src/session_impl.cpp b/src/session_impl.cpp
index 4d45092cd..125664302 100755
--- a/src/session_impl.cpp
+++ b/src/session_impl.cpp
@@ -976,6 +976,8 @@ namespace detail
 				// if we should not make any more connections
 				// attempts this tick, abort
 				if (max_connections == 0) break;
+				// maintain the global limit on number of connections
+				if (num_connections() >= m_max_connections) break;
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/torrent.cpp b/src/torrent.cpp
index 3091eba35..9cd2c277c 100755
--- a/src/torrent.cpp
+++ b/src/torrent.cpp
@@ -1838,6 +1838,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 #endif
 
 		assert(want_more_peers());
+		assert(m_ses.num_connections() < m_ses.max_connections());
 
 		tcp::endpoint const& a(peerinfo->ip);
 		assert((m_ses.m_ip_filter.access(a.address()) & ip_filter::blocked) == 0);