diff --git a/Sources/SwiftMail/IMAP/IMAPConnection.swift b/Sources/SwiftMail/IMAP/IMAPConnection.swift
index 72286ce9..605e9dc3 100644
--- a/Sources/SwiftMail/IMAP/IMAPConnection.swift
+++ b/Sources/SwiftMail/IMAP/IMAPConnection.swift
@@ -225,9 +225,24 @@ final class IMAPConnection {
                 }
             }
 
+        // Resolve the address up-front so we can use connect(to:) instead of
+        // connect(host:port:). The latter goes through HappyEyeballsConnector which
+        // has a debug-mode bug: when TCP connection fails, internal promises inside the
+        // connector may not be fulfilled before it is deallocated, triggering a
+        // "leaking promise" fatal error in NIO's EventLoopFuture.deinit.
+        // Resolving first and connecting to a concrete SocketAddress bypasses the
+        // connector entirely.
+        let address: SocketAddress
+        do {
+            address = try SocketAddress.makeAddressResolvingHost(host, port: port)
+        } catch {
+            greetingPromise.fail(error)
+            throw error
+        }
+
         let channel: Channel
         do {
-            channel = try await bootstrap.connect(host: host, port: port).get()
+            channel = try await bootstrap.connect(to: address).get()
         } catch {
             // Fail the greeting promise before rethrowing — prevents NIO "leaking promise"
             // fatal error when TCP connection fails (e.g. no internet).
diff --git a/Tests/SwiftIMAPTests/IMAPConnectionDNSResolutionTests.swift b/Tests/SwiftIMAPTests/IMAPConnectionDNSResolutionTests.swift
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..026603d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/SwiftIMAPTests/IMAPConnectionDNSResolutionTests.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+import NIO
+import Testing
+@testable import SwiftMail
+
+#if os(macOS)
+@Suite(.serialized, .timeLimit(.minutes(1)))
+struct IMAPConnectionDNSResolutionTests {
+
+    private func makeGroup() -> MultiThreadedEventLoopGroup {
+        MultiThreadedEventLoopGroup(numberOfThreads: 1)
+    }
+
+    private func shutdownGroup(_ group: MultiThreadedEventLoopGroup) {
+        try? group.syncShutdownGracefully()
+    }
+
+    /// Connecting to an unresolvable host should throw an error (not crash via
+    /// HappyEyeballsConnector's leaked-promise assertion).
+    @Test
+    func connectToUnresolvableHostThrowsWithoutCrash() async {
+        let group = makeGroup()
+        defer { shutdownGroup(group) }
+
+        let connection = IMAPConnection(
+            host: "this-host-does-not-exist.invalid",
+            port: 993,
+            useTLS: false,
+            group: group,
+            loggerLabel: "test.dns",
+            outboundLabel: "test.dns.out",
+            inboundLabel: "test.dns.in",
+            connectionID: "test-dns-unresolvable",
+            connectionRole: "test"
+        )
+
+        do {
+            try await connection.connect()
+            Issue.record("Expected connect to unresolvable host to throw")
+        } catch {
+            // Any error is acceptable — the point is it doesn't crash.
+            #expect(!connection.isConnected)
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Connecting to a host that resolves but refuses the TCP connection should
+    /// throw cleanly without leaking NIO promises.
+    @Test
+    func connectToRefusedPortThrowsWithoutCrash() async {
+        let group = makeGroup()
+        defer { shutdownGroup(group) }
+
+        // Port 1 is almost certainly not listening.
+        let connection = IMAPConnection(
+            host: "127.0.0.1",
+            port: 1,
+            useTLS: false,
+            group: group,
+            loggerLabel: "test.refused",
+            outboundLabel: "test.refused.out",
+            inboundLabel: "test.refused.in",
+            connectionID: "test-refused-port",
+            connectionRole: "test"
+        )
+
+        do {
+            try await connection.connect()
+            Issue.record("Expected connect to refused port to throw")
+        } catch {
+            #expect(!connection.isConnected)
+        }
+    }
+}
+#endif