diff --git a/src/netnode.py b/src/netnode.py
--- a/src/netnode.py
+++ b/src/netnode.py
@@ -22,8 +22,11 @@ class BaseConnection: # abstract
 		return self.incoming,self.outcoming
 
 	def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
-		self._socket.shutdown(socket.SHUT_RDWR)
-		self._socket.close()
+		try:
+			self._socket.shutdown(socket.SHUT_RDWR)
+			self._socket.close()
+		except OSError:
+			log.warning("encountered an error when shutting down the connection")
 
 
 class NetNode: