diff --git a/common/src/main/java/org/apache/celeborn/common/network/client/TransportClientFactory.java b/common/src/main/java/org/apache/celeborn/common/network/client/TransportClientFactory.java
index 26191be26d5..a712965a440 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/org/apache/celeborn/common/network/client/TransportClientFactory.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/org/apache/celeborn/common/network/client/TransportClientFactory.java
@@ -251,7 +251,15 @@ public void initChannel(SocketChannel ch) {
     // Connect to the remote server
     long preConnect = System.nanoTime();
     ChannelFuture cf = bootstrap.connect(address);
-    if (!cf.await(connectTimeoutMs)) {
+    if (connectTimeoutMs <= 0) {
+      cf.await();
+      assert cf.isDone();
+      if (cf.isCancelled()) {
+        throw new IOException(String.format("Connecting to %s cancelled", address));
+      } else if (!cf.isSuccess()) {
+        throw new IOException(String.format("Failed to connect to %s", address), cf.cause());
+      }
+    } else if (!cf.await(connectTimeoutMs)) {
       throw new CelebornIOException(
           String.format("Connecting to %s timed out (%s ms)", address, connectTimeoutMs));
     } else if (cf.cause() != null) {
diff --git a/common/src/test/java/org/apache/celeborn/common/network/TransportClientFactorySuiteJ.java b/common/src/test/java/org/apache/celeborn/common/network/TransportClientFactorySuiteJ.java
index 26a9b4885fe..b77a9c7d0c7 100644
--- a/common/src/test/java/org/apache/celeborn/common/network/TransportClientFactorySuiteJ.java
+++ b/common/src/test/java/org/apache/celeborn/common/network/TransportClientFactorySuiteJ.java
@@ -211,4 +211,31 @@ public void closeFactoryBeforeCreateClient() throws IOException, InterruptedExce
     factory.close();
     factory.createClient(getLocalHost(), server1.getPort());
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void unlimitedConnectionAndCreationTimeouts() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
+    CelebornConf _conf = new CelebornConf();
+    _conf.set("celeborn.shuffle.io.connectTimeout", "-1");
+    _conf.set("celeborn.shuffle.io.connectionTimeout", "-1");
+    TransportConf conf = new TransportConf(TEST_MODULE, _conf);
+    try (TransportContext ctx = new TransportContext(conf, new BaseMessageHandler(), true);
+        TransportClientFactory factory = ctx.createClientFactory()) {
+      TransportClient c1 = factory.createClient(getLocalHost(), server1.getPort());
+      assertTrue(c1.isActive());
+      long expiredTime = System.currentTimeMillis() + 5000;
+      while (c1.isActive() && System.currentTimeMillis() < expiredTime) {
+        Thread.sleep(10);
+      }
+      assertTrue(c1.isActive());
+      // When connectionTimeout is unlimited, the connection shall be able to fail when the server
+      // is not reachable.
+      TransportServer server = ctx.createServer();
+      int unreachablePort = server.getPort();
+      JavaUtils.closeQuietly(server);
+      IOException exception =
+          assertThrows(
+              IOException.class, () -> factory.createClient(getLocalHost(), unreachablePort));
+      assertNotEquals(exception.getCause(), null);
+    }
+  }
 }