diff --git a/lib/Cake/Network/CakeSocket.php b/lib/Cake/Network/CakeSocket.php
index aebdee191..b08d60b0a 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Network/CakeSocket.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Network/CakeSocket.php
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ class CakeSocket {
 			$scheme = $this->config['protocol'] . '://';
 		}
 
+		$this->_setSslContext($this->config['host']);
 		if (!empty($this->config['context'])) {
 			$context = stream_context_create($this->config['context']);
 		} else {
@@ -195,6 +196,46 @@ class CakeSocket {
 		return $this->connected;
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Configure the SSL context options.
+ *
+ * @param string $host The host name being connected to.
+ */
+	protected function _setSslContext($host)
+	{
+		foreach ($this->config as $key => $value) {
+			if (substr($key, 0, 4) !== 'ssl_') {
+				continue;
+			}
+			$contextKey = substr($key, 4);
+			if (empty($this->config['context']['ssl'][$contextKey])) {
+				$this->config['context']['ssl'][$contextKey] = $value;
+			}
+			unset($this->config[$key]);
+		}
+		if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3.2', '>=')) {
+			if (!isset($this->config['context']['ssl']['SNI_enabled'])) {
+				$this->config['context']['ssl']['SNI_enabled'] = true;
+			}
+			if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.6.0', '>=')) {
+				if (empty($this->config['context']['ssl']['peer_name'])) {
+					$this->config['context']['ssl']['peer_name'] = $host;
+				}
+			} else {
+				if (empty($this->config['context']['ssl']['SNI_server_name'])) {
+					$this->config['context']['ssl']['SNI_server_name'] = $host;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		if (empty($this->config['context']['ssl']['cafile'])) {
+			$this->config['context']['ssl']['cafile'] = CAKE . 'Config' . DS . 'cacert.pem';
+		}
+		if (!empty($this->config['context']['ssl']['verify_host'])) {
+			$this->config['context']['ssl']['CN_match'] = $host;
+		}
+		unset($this->config['context']['ssl']['verify_host']);
+	}
+
 /**
  * socket_stream_client() does not populate errNum, or $errStr when there are
  * connection errors, as in the case of SSL verification failure.
@@ -405,6 +446,4 @@ class CakeSocket {
 		$this->setLastError(null, $errorMessage);
 		throw new SocketException($errorMessage);
 	}
-
 }
-
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Network/Email/SmtpTransport.php b/lib/Cake/Network/Email/SmtpTransport.php
index 73af32b46..f37dadf99 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Network/Email/SmtpTransport.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Network/Email/SmtpTransport.php
@@ -118,7 +118,8 @@ class SmtpTransport extends AbstractTransport {
 			'username' => null,
 			'password' => null,
 			'client' => null,
-			'tls' => false
+			'tls' => false,
+			'ssl_allow_self_signed' => false
 		);
 		$this->_config = array_merge($default, $this->_config, $config);
 		return $this->_config;
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Network/Http/HttpSocket.php b/lib/Cake/Network/Http/HttpSocket.php
index 0fdf4a12d..4c6c25675 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Network/Http/HttpSocket.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Network/Http/HttpSocket.php
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class HttpSocket extends CakeSocket {
  * Contain information about the last response (read only)
  *
  * @var array
- */
+*/
 	public $response = null;
 
 /**
@@ -361,8 +361,6 @@ class HttpSocket extends CakeSocket {
 			return false;
 		}
 
-		$this->_configContext($this->request['uri']['host']);
-
 		$this->request['raw'] = '';
 		if ($this->request['line'] !== false) {
 			$this->request['raw'] = $this->request['line'];
@@ -374,6 +372,8 @@ class HttpSocket extends CakeSocket {
 
 		$this->request['raw'] .= "\r\n";
 		$this->request['raw'] .= $this->request['body'];
+
+		// SSL context is set during the connect() method.
 		$this->write($this->request['raw']);
 
 		$response = null;
@@ -700,47 +700,6 @@ class HttpSocket extends CakeSocket {
 		return true;
 	}
 
-/**
- * Configure the socket's context. Adds in configuration
- * that can not be declared in the class definition.
- *
- * @param string $host The host you're connecting to.
- * @return void
- */
-	protected function _configContext($host) {
-		foreach ($this->config as $key => $value) {
-			if (substr($key, 0, 4) !== 'ssl_') {
-				continue;
-			}
-			$contextKey = substr($key, 4);
-			if (empty($this->config['context']['ssl'][$contextKey])) {
-				$this->config['context']['ssl'][$contextKey] = $value;
-			}
-			unset($this->config[$key]);
-		}
-		if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3.2', '>=')) {
-			if (!isset($this->config['context']['ssl']['SNI_enabled'])) {
-				$this->config['context']['ssl']['SNI_enabled'] = true;
-			}
-			if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.6.0', '>=')) {
-				if (empty($this->config['context']['ssl']['peer_name'])) {
-					$this->config['context']['ssl']['peer_name'] = $host;
-				}
-			} else {
-				if (empty($this->config['context']['ssl']['SNI_server_name'])) {
-					$this->config['context']['ssl']['SNI_server_name'] = $host;
-				}
-			}
-		}
-		if (empty($this->config['context']['ssl']['cafile'])) {
-			$this->config['context']['ssl']['cafile'] = CAKE . 'Config' . DS . 'cacert.pem';
-		}
-		if (!empty($this->config['context']['ssl']['verify_host'])) {
-			$this->config['context']['ssl']['CN_match'] = $host;
-		}
-		unset($this->config['context']['ssl']['verify_host']);
-	}
-
 /**
  * Takes a $uri array and turns it into a fully qualified URL string
  *
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/CakeSocketTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/CakeSocketTest.php
index 1d095e8da..d68774fe0 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/CakeSocketTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/CakeSocketTest.php
@@ -367,7 +367,37 @@ class CakeSocketTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$this->Socket = new CakeSocket($config);
 		$this->Socket->connect();
 		$result = $this->Socket->context();
-		$this->assertEquals($config['context'], $result);
+		$this->assertSame($config['context']['ssl']['capture_peer'], $result['ssl']['capture_peer']);
 	}
 
+/**
+ * test configuring the context from the flat keys.
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testConfigContext() {
+		$this->skipIf(!extension_loaded('openssl'), 'OpenSSL is not enabled cannot test SSL.');
+		$config = array(
+			'host' => 'smtp.gmail.com',
+			'port' => 465,
+			'timeout' => 5,
+			'ssl_verify_peer' => true,
+			'ssl_allow_self_signed' => false,
+			'ssl_verify_depth' => 5,
+			'ssl_verify_host' => true,
+		);
+		$this->Socket = new CakeSocket($config);
+
+		$this->Socket->connect();
+		$result = $this->Socket->context();
+
+		$this->assertTrue($result['ssl']['verify_peer']);
+		$this->assertFalse($result['ssl']['allow_self_signed']);
+		$this->assertEquals(5, $result['ssl']['verify_depth']);
+		$this->assertEquals('smtp.gmail.com', $result['ssl']['CN_match']);
+		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey('ssl_verify_peer', $this->Socket->config);
+		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey('ssl_allow_self_signed', $this->Socket->config);
+		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey('ssl_verify_host', $this->Socket->config);
+		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey('ssl_verify_depth', $this->Socket->config);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/Email/CakeEmailTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/Email/CakeEmailTest.php
index a86412ce6..d27f2f709 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/Email/CakeEmailTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/Email/CakeEmailTest.php
@@ -946,7 +946,8 @@ class CakeEmailTest extends CakeTestCase {
 			'username' => null,
 			'password' => null,
 			'client' => null,
-			'tls' => false
+			'tls' => false,
+			'ssl_allow_self_signed' => false
 		);
 		$this->assertEquals($expected, $this->CakeEmail->transportClass()->config());
 
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/Http/HttpSocketTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/Http/HttpSocketTest.php
index 318e43401..559980494 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/Http/HttpSocketTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Network/Http/HttpSocketTest.php
@@ -314,23 +314,6 @@ class HttpSocketTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$response = $this->Socket->request(true);
 		$this->assertFalse($response);
 
-		$context = array(
-			'ssl' => array(
-				'verify_peer' => true,
-				'allow_self_signed' => false,
-				'verify_depth' => 5,
-				'SNI_enabled' => true,
-				'CN_match' => 'www.cakephp.org',
-				'cafile' => CAKE . 'Config' . DS . 'cacert.pem'
-			)
-		);
-
-		if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.6.0', '>=')) {
-			$context['ssl']['peer_name'] = 'www.cakephp.org';
-		} else {
-			$context['ssl']['SNI_server_name'] = 'www.cakephp.org';
-		}
-
 		$tests = array(
 			array(
 				'request' => 'http://www.cakephp.org/?foo=bar',
@@ -341,7 +324,10 @@ class HttpSocketTest extends CakeTestCase {
 						'protocol' => 'tcp',
 						'port' => 80,
 						'timeout' => 30,
-						'context' => $context,
+						'ssl_verify_peer' => true,
+						'ssl_allow_self_signed' => false,
+						'ssl_verify_depth' => 5,
+						'ssl_verify_host' => true,
 						'request' => array(
 							'uri' => array(
 								'scheme' => 'http',
@@ -1843,27 +1829,6 @@ class HttpSocketTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$this->assertEquals(true, $return);
 	}
 
-/**
- * test configuring the context from the flat keys.
- *
- * @return void
- */
-	public function testConfigContext() {
-		$this->Socket->expects($this->any())
-			->method('read')->will($this->returnValue(false));
-
-		$this->Socket->reset();
-		$this->Socket->request('http://example.com');
-		$this->assertTrue($this->Socket->config['context']['ssl']['verify_peer']);
-		$this->assertFalse($this->Socket->config['context']['ssl']['allow_self_signed']);
-		$this->assertEquals(5, $this->Socket->config['context']['ssl']['verify_depth']);
-		$this->assertEquals('example.com', $this->Socket->config['context']['ssl']['CN_match']);
-		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey('ssl_verify_peer', $this->Socket->config);
-		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey('ssl_allow_self_signed', $this->Socket->config);
-		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey('ssl_verify_host', $this->Socket->config);
-		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey('ssl_verify_depth', $this->Socket->config);
-	}
-
 /**
  * Test that requests fail when peer verification fails.
  *