diff --git a/module-client/src/main/java/org/apache/http/impl/conn/tsccm/ConnPoolByRoute.java b/module-client/src/main/java/org/apache/http/impl/conn/tsccm/ConnPoolByRoute.java
index e6286e8c8..20b7af241 100644
--- a/module-client/src/main/java/org/apache/http/impl/conn/tsccm/ConnPoolByRoute.java
+++ b/module-client/src/main/java/org/apache/http/impl/conn/tsccm/ConnPoolByRoute.java
@@ -448,7 +448,10 @@ protected BasicPoolEntry getFreeEntry(RouteSpecificPool rospl, Object state) {
                             LOG.debug("Closing expired free connection"
                                     + " [" + rospl.getRoute() + "][" + state + "]");
                         closeConnection(entry.getConnection());
-                        rospl.deleteEntry(entry);
+                        // We use dropEntry instead of deleteEntry because the entry
+                        // is no longer "free" (we just allocated it), and deleteEntry
+                        // can only be used to delete free entries.
+                        rospl.dropEntry();
                         numConnections--;
                     } else {
                         issuedConnections.add(entry.getWeakRef());
diff --git a/module-client/src/test/java/org/apache/http/conn/TestConnectionReuse.java b/module-client/src/test/java/org/apache/http/conn/TestConnectionReuse.java
index 88b38ef25..b57f57104 100644
--- a/module-client/src/test/java/org/apache/http/conn/TestConnectionReuse.java
+++ b/module-client/src/test/java/org/apache/http/conn/TestConnectionReuse.java
@@ -311,9 +311,9 @@ public void testKeepAliveHeaderRespected() throws Exception {
         HttpProtocolParams.setUserAgent(params, "TestAgent/1.1");
         HttpProtocolParams.setUseExpectContinue(params, false);
         HttpConnectionParams.setStaleCheckingEnabled(params, false);
-        ConnManagerParams.setMaxTotalConnections(params, 5);
+        ConnManagerParams.setMaxTotalConnections(params, 1);
         ConnManagerParams.setMaxConnectionsPerRoute(params, 
-                new ConnPerRouteBean(5));
+                new ConnPerRouteBean(1));
         
         SchemeRegistry supportedSchemes = new SchemeRegistry();
         SocketFactory sf = PlainSocketFactory.getSocketFactory();
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ public void testKeepAliveHeaderRespected() throws Exception {
         
 
         mgr.shutdown();
-    }
+    }    
 
     private static class WorkerThread extends Thread {