diff --git a/lib/client.js b/lib/client.js
index 440c75edda..3121b09ffc 100644
--- a/lib/client.js
+++ b/lib/client.js
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ Client.prototype.disconnect = function(){
   var socket;
   // we don't use a for loop because the length of
   // `sockets` changes upon each iteration
-  while (socket = this.sockets.shift()) {
+  while (socket = this.sockets.pop()) {
     socket.disconnect();
   }
   this.close();
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ Client.prototype.onclose = function(reason){
 
   // `nsps` and `sockets` are cleaned up seamlessly
   var socket;
-  while (socket = this.sockets.shift()) {
+  while (socket = this.sockets.pop()) {
     socket.onclose(reason);
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 64de3b880a..2dbbfb573a 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ Server.prototype.onconnection = function(conn){
 
 Server.prototype.of = function(name, fn){
   if (String(name)[0] !== '/') name = '/' + name;
-  
+
   if (!this.nsps[name]) {
     debug('initializing namespace %s', name);
     var nsp = new Namespace(this, name);
@@ -343,9 +343,12 @@ Server.prototype.of = function(name, fn){
  */
 
 Server.prototype.close = function(){
-  this.nsps['/'].sockets.forEach(function(socket){
-    socket.onclose();
-  });
+  var sockets = this.nsps['/'].sockets;
+  for (var id in sockets) {
+    if (sockets.hasOwnProperty(id)) {
+      sockets[id].onclose();
+    }
+  }
 
   this.engine.close();
 
diff --git a/lib/namespace.js b/lib/namespace.js
index 4ae0b154a5..92bbb6edf0 100644
--- a/lib/namespace.js
+++ b/lib/namespace.js
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ var emit = Emitter.prototype.emit;
 function Namespace(server, name){
   this.name = name;
   this.server = server;
-  this.sockets = [];
+  this.sockets = {};
   this.connected = {};
   this.fns = [];
   this.ids = 0;
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ Namespace.prototype.add = function(client, fn){
         if (err) return socket.error(err.data || err.message);
 
         // track socket
-        self.sockets.push(socket);
+        self.sockets[socket.id] = socket;
 
         // it's paramount that the internal `onconnect` logic
         // fires before user-set events to prevent state order
@@ -185,9 +185,8 @@ Namespace.prototype.add = function(client, fn){
  */
 
 Namespace.prototype.remove = function(socket){
-  var i = this.sockets.indexOf(socket);
-  if (~i) {
-    this.sockets.splice(i, 1);
+  if (socket.id in this.sockets) {
+    delete this.sockets[socket.id];
   } else {
     debug('ignoring remove for %s', socket.id);
   }
diff --git a/lib/socket.js b/lib/socket.js
index 1de3f3fca6..a2beb58c79 100644
--- a/lib/socket.js
+++ b/lib/socket.js
@@ -271,9 +271,9 @@ Socket.prototype.leaveAll = function(){
 
 Socket.prototype.onconnect = function(){
   debug('socket connected - writing packet');
+  this.nsp.connected[this.id] = this;
   this.join(this.id);
   this.packet({ type: parser.CONNECT });
-  this.nsp.connected[this.id] = this;
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/socket.io.js b/test/socket.io.js
index a04b53c901..9aeb36477a 100644
--- a/test/socket.io.js
+++ b/test/socket.io.js
@@ -331,12 +331,12 @@ describe('socket.io', function(){
       var clientSocket = client(srv, { reconnection: false });
 
       clientSocket.on('disconnect', function init() {
-        expect(sio.nsps['/'].sockets.length).to.equal(0);
+        expect(Object.keys(sio.nsps['/'].sockets).length).to.equal(0);
         server.listen(PORT);
       });
 
       clientSocket.on('connect', function init() {
-        expect(sio.nsps['/'].sockets.length).to.equal(1);
+        expect(Object.keys(sio.nsps['/'].sockets).length).to.equal(1);
         sio.close();
       });
 
@@ -358,12 +358,12 @@ describe('socket.io', function(){
       var clientSocket = ioc('ws://0.0.0.0:' + PORT);
 
       clientSocket.on('disconnect', function init() {
-        expect(sio.nsps['/'].sockets.length).to.equal(0);
+        expect(Object.keys(sio.nsps['/'].sockets).length).to.equal(0);
         server.listen(PORT);
       });
 
       clientSocket.on('connect', function init() {
-        expect(sio.nsps['/'].sockets.length).to.equal(1);
+        expect(Object.keys(sio.nsps['/'].sockets).length).to.equal(1);
         sio.close();
       });