diff --git a/lib/excon/connection.rb b/lib/excon/connection.rb
index 7ca064d8..1e3f4400 100644
--- a/lib/excon/connection.rb
+++ b/lib/excon/connection.rb
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ def request_call(datum)
           # we already have data from a middleware, so bail
           return datum
         else
-          socket(datum)
+          socket(datum).data = datum
           # start with "METHOD /path"
           request = datum[:method].to_s.upcase + ' '
           if datum[:proxy] && datum[:scheme] != HTTPS