diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index de24a54cdb..d5a17804ae 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+Wed Jul 25 09:05:38 2012  Eric Hodel  <drbrain@segment7.net>
+
+	* lib/net/http.rb:  Added SSL session reuse across connections for a
+	  single instance to speed up connection.  [Feature #5341]
+	* NEWS:  ditto
+	* test/net/http/test_https.rb:  Tests for #5341
+
 Wed Jul 25 06:54:24 2012  Eric Hodel  <drbrain@segment7.net>
 
 	* doc/re.rdoc:  Fix spelling
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 85add229de..ce1dc8be9f 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -89,6 +89,8 @@ with all sufficient information, see the ChangeLog file.
       variable.  See Net::HTTP::new for details.
     * gzip and deflate compression are now requested for all requests by
       default.  See Net::HTTP for details.
+    * SSL sessions are now reused across connections for a single instance.
+      This speeds up connection by using a previously negotiated session.
   * new methods:
     * Net::HTTP#local_host
     * Net::HTTP#local_host=
diff --git a/lib/net/http.rb b/lib/net/http.rb
index 357c41fbd7..0381099a07 100644
--- a/lib/net/http.rb
+++ b/lib/net/http.rb
@@ -649,6 +649,7 @@ module Net   #:nodoc:
 
       @use_ssl = false
       @ssl_context = nil
+      @ssl_session = nil
       @enable_post_connection_check = true
       @sspi_enabled = false
       SSL_IVNAMES.each do |ivname|
@@ -903,12 +904,14 @@ module Net   #:nodoc:
             @socket.write(buf)
             HTTPResponse.read_new(@socket).value
           end
+          s.session = @ssl_session if @ssl_session
           # Server Name Indication (SNI) RFC 3546
           s.hostname = @address if s.respond_to? :hostname=
           Timeout.timeout(@open_timeout, Net::OpenTimeout) { s.connect }
           if @ssl_context.verify_mode != OpenSSL::SSL::VERIFY_NONE
             s.post_connection_check(@address)
           end
+          @ssl_session = s.session
         rescue => exception
           D "Conn close because of connect error #{exception}"
           @socket.close if @socket and not @socket.closed?
diff --git a/test/net/http/test_https.rb b/test/net/http/test_https.rb
index 3b843b140f..2a42db7209 100644
--- a/test/net/http/test_https.rb
+++ b/test/net/http/test_https.rb
@@ -59,6 +59,29 @@ class TestNetHTTPS < Test::Unit::TestCase
     skip $!
   end
 
+  def test_session_reuse
+    http = Net::HTTP.new("localhost", config("port"))
+    http.use_ssl = true
+    http.verify_callback = Proc.new do |preverify_ok, store_ctx|
+      store_ctx.current_cert.to_der == config('ssl_certificate').to_der
+    end
+
+    http.start
+    http.get("/")
+    http.finish
+
+    http.start
+    http.get("/")
+    http.finish # three times due to possible bug in OpenSSL 0.9.8
+
+    http.start
+    http.get("/")
+
+    socket = http.instance_variable_get(:@socket).io
+
+    assert socket.session_reused?
+  end
+
   if ENV["RUBY_OPENSSL_TEST_ALL"]
     def test_verify
       http = Net::HTTP.new("ssl.netlab.jp", 443)