diff --git a/lib/em-twitter/client.rb b/lib/em-twitter/client.rb
index 39dce6a..4980f48 100644
--- a/lib/em-twitter/client.rb
+++ b/lib/em-twitter/client.rb
@@ -41,14 +41,14 @@ def initialize(options = {})
 
         if @options[:proxy] && @options[:proxy][:uri]
           proxy_uri = URI.parse(@options[:proxy][:uri])
-          @host = proxy_uri.host
-          @port = proxy_uri.port
+          @proxy_host = proxy_uri.host
+          @proxy_port = proxy_uri.port
         end
         @connection = nil
       end
 
       def connect
-        @connection = EM.connect(@host, @port, Connection, self, @host, @port)
+        @connection = EM.connect(@proxy_host, @proxy_port, Connection, self, @host, @port)
       end
 
       def each(&block)