diff --git a/redis/connection.py b/redis/connection.py
index faea7683f7..382bcddf4b 100644
--- a/redis/connection.py
+++ b/redis/connection.py
@@ -778,20 +778,22 @@ def on_connect(self):
     def disconnect(self, *args):
         "Disconnects from the Redis server"
         self._parser.on_disconnect()
-        if self._sock is None:
+
+        socket = self._sock
+        self._sock = None
+        if socket is None:
             return
 
         if os.getpid() == self.pid:
             try:
-                self._sock.shutdown(socket.SHUT_RDWR)
+                socket.shutdown(socket.SHUT_RDWR)
             except OSError:
                 pass
 
         try:
-            self._sock.close()
+            socket.close()
         except OSError:
             pass
-        self._sock = None
 
     def _send_ping(self):
         """Send PING, expect PONG in return"""