diff --git a/coordination/src/main/java/tech/ydb/coordination/impl/SessionImpl.java b/coordination/src/main/java/tech/ydb/coordination/impl/SessionImpl.java
index c952fc3ed..d80d0cc97 100644
--- a/coordination/src/main/java/tech/ydb/coordination/impl/SessionImpl.java
+++ b/coordination/src/main/java/tech/ydb/coordination/impl/SessionImpl.java
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ public CompletableFuture<Status> stop() {
     public CompletableFuture<Status> connect() {
         SessionState local = state.get();
         // create new stream to connect
-        final Stream stream = new Stream(rpc);
+        final Stream stream = new Stream(rpc, connectTimeout);
         if (!updateState(local, makeConnectionState(local, stream))) {
             logger.warn("{} cannot be connected with state {}", this, local.getState());
             stream.cancelStream();
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ private void restoreSession(long disconnectedAt, int retryCount, List<StreamMsg<
             return;
         }
 
-        Stream stream = new Stream(rpc);
+        Stream stream = new Stream(rpc, connectTimeout);
         if (!updateState(local, makeConnectionState(local, stream))) {
             logger.warn("{} cannot be reconnected with state {}", this, state.get().getState());
             completeMessagesWithBadSession(messagesToRetry);
diff --git a/coordination/src/main/java/tech/ydb/coordination/impl/Stream.java b/coordination/src/main/java/tech/ydb/coordination/impl/Stream.java
index a927913ae..540ed7446 100644
--- a/coordination/src/main/java/tech/ydb/coordination/impl/Stream.java
+++ b/coordination/src/main/java/tech/ydb/coordination/impl/Stream.java
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ class Stream {
     private final Map<Long, StreamMsg<?>> messages = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
 
     Stream(Rpc rpc) {
+        this(rpc, Duration.ofSeconds(5));
+    }
+
+    Stream(Rpc rpc, Duration connectTimeout) {
         this.scheduler = rpc.getScheduler();
         this.stream = rpc.createSession(GrpcRequestSettings.newBuilder()
                 .disableDeadline()
@@ -53,6 +57,19 @@ class Stream {
                 stopFuture.complete(status);
             }
         });
+
+        // Guard against a half-open TCP connection where the gRPC stream never delivers
+        // SessionStarted. Without this timeout the reconnect loop stalls indefinitely,
+        // keeping CompletableFutures for pending operations (e.g. acquireEphemeralSemaphore)
+        // unresolved even after the application-level acquire timeout has expired.
+        scheduler.schedule(() -> {
+            if (startFuture.isDone()) {
+                return;
+            }
+            logger.warn("stream {} connect timeout after {} ms, cancelling", hashCode(), connectTimeout.toMillis());
+            stream.cancel();
+            startFuture.complete(Result.fail(Status.of(StatusCode.TIMEOUT)));
+        }, connectTimeout.toMillis(), TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
     }
 
     public CompletableFuture<Status> getFinishedFuture() {