diff --git a/lib/inspec/resources/ssl.rb b/lib/inspec/resources/ssl.rb
index 122b529fe..794b2a8af 100644
--- a/lib/inspec/resources/ssl.rb
+++ b/lib/inspec/resources/ssl.rb
@@ -73,6 +73,11 @@ module Inspec::Resources
             protocol: proto, ciphers: e.map(&:cipher),
             timeout: x.resource.timeout, retries: x.resource.retries, servername: x.resource.host)]
         end
+
+        if !res[0].empty? && res[0][1].key?("error") && res[0][1]["error"].include?("Connection error Errno::ECONNREFUSED")
+          raise "#{res[0][1]["error"]}"
+        end
+
         Hash[res]
       end
       .install_filter_methods_on_resource(self, :scan_config)
diff --git a/test/unit/resources/ssl_test.rb b/test/unit/resources/ssl_test.rb
index ed2445b7a..70830c21b 100644
--- a/test/unit/resources/ssl_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/resources/ssl_test.rb
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ describe "Inspec::Resources::SSL" do
   it "verify host unreachable" do
     SSLShake.expects(:hello).at_least_once.returns({ "error" => "Connection error Errno::ECONNREFUSED, can't connect to localhost:443." })
     resource = load_resource("ssl", host: "localhost")
-    _(resource.enabled?).must_equal false
+    err = _ { resource.enabled? }.must_raise(RuntimeError)
+    _(err.message).must_equal "Connection error Errno::ECONNREFUSED, can't connect to localhost:443."
   end
 
   it "error with nil host" do