diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2c12a88..ebf692b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ Place it into project library path in your IDE.
 
 * `tarantool.persistent` - Enable persistent connections (don't close connections between sessions) (defaults: True, **can't be changed in runtime**)
 * `tarantool.timeout` - Connection timeout (defaults: 10 seconds, can be changed in runtime)
-* `tarantool.retry_count` - Count of retries for connecting (defaults: 1, can be changed in runtime)
+* `tarantool.retry_count` - Amount of attempts to connect (defaults: 1, can be changed in runtime)
 * `tarantool.retry_sleep` - Sleep between connecting retries (defaults: 0.1 second, can be changed in runtime)
 * `tarantool.request_timeout` - Read/write timeout for requests (defaults: 10 second, can be changed in runtime)
 
diff --git a/src/tarantool.c b/src/tarantool.c
index c3ab7a4..389f176 100644
--- a/src/tarantool.c
+++ b/src/tarantool.c
@@ -257,6 +257,11 @@ static int __tarantool_connect(tarantool_object *t_obj) {
 	double_to_ts(INI_FLT("retry_sleep"), &sleep_time);
 	char *err = NULL;
 
+	if (count < 1) {
+		THROW_EXC("tarantool.retry_count should be 1 or above");
+		return FAILURE;
+	}
+
 	if (t_obj->is_persistent) {
 		if (!obj->persistent_id)
 			obj->persistent_id = pid_pzsgen(obj->host, obj->port,
diff --git a/test/CreateTest.php b/test/CreateTest.php
index f49310b..7ece97e 100644
--- a/test/CreateTest.php
+++ b/test/CreateTest.php
@@ -163,5 +163,33 @@ public static function provideGoodCredentials()
             ['guest', null],
         ];
     }
+
+    public function test_10_zero_retry_exception() {
+        /* A connection to call iproto_connect_count(). */
+        $tarantool = new Tarantool('localhost', self::$port, 'test', 'test');
+        $iproto_connect_count_before =
+            $tarantool->call('iproto_connect_count')[0][0];
+
+        $saved_retry_count = ini_get('tarantool.retry_count');
+        ini_set('tarantool.retry_count', 0);
+
+        $exp_err = 'tarantool.retry_count should be 1 or above';
+        try {
+            $c = new Tarantool('localhost', self::$port);
+            $c->connect();
+            $this->assertFalse(true);
+        } catch (Exception $e) {
+            $this->assertInstanceOf(TarantoolException::class, $e);
+            $this->assertEquals($exp_err, $e->getMessage());
+        } finally {
+            ini_set('tarantool.retry_count', $saved_retry_count);
+        }
+
+        /* Verify that no connection attempts were performed. */
+        $iproto_connect_count_after =
+            $tarantool->call('iproto_connect_count')[0][0];
+        $this->assertEquals($iproto_connect_count_before,
+                            $iproto_connect_count_after);
+    }
 }
 
diff --git a/test/shared/box.lua b/test/shared/box.lua
index 83cb0d7..33838c8 100755
--- a/test/shared/box.lua
+++ b/test/shared/box.lua
@@ -180,5 +180,22 @@ function test_6(...)
     return ...
 end
 
+iproto_connect_counter = 0
+function iproto_connect_count()
+    return iproto_connect_counter
+end
+
+box.session.on_connect(function()
+    -- box.session.type() was introduced in 1.7.4-370-g0bce2472b.
+    --
+    -- We're interested in iproto sessions, but it is okay for our
+    -- usage scenario to count replication and console sessions
+    -- too: we only see to a delta and AFAIK our testing harness
+    -- does not perform any background reconnections.
+    if box.session.type == nil or box.session.type() == 'binary' then
+        iproto_connect_counter = iproto_connect_counter + 1
+    end
+end)
+
 require('console').listen(os.getenv('ADMIN_PORT'))