diff --git a/aioimaplib/aioimaplib.py b/aioimaplib/aioimaplib.py
index ed7fe0e..441c445 100644
--- a/aioimaplib/aioimaplib.py
+++ b/aioimaplib/aioimaplib.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 import ssl
 import sys
 import time
-from asyncio import BaseTransport, Future
+from asyncio import BaseTransport, Future, Task
 from collections import namedtuple
 from copy import copy
 from datetime import datetime, timezone, timedelta
@@ -701,6 +701,7 @@ def _find_pending_async_cmd_by_tag(self, tag: str) -> list:
 
 class IMAP4(object):
     TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 10.0
+    _client_task: Task
 
     def __init__(self, host: str = '127.0.0.1', port: int = IMAP4_PORT, loop: asyncio.AbstractEventLoop = None,
                  timeout: float = TIMEOUT_SECONDS, conn_lost_cb: Callable[[Optional[Exception]], None] = None,
@@ -717,7 +718,7 @@ def create_client(self, host: str, port: int, loop: asyncio.AbstractEventLoop,
                       conn_lost_cb: Callable[[Optional[Exception]], None] = None, ssl_context: ssl.SSLContext = None) -> None:
         local_loop = loop if loop is not None else get_running_loop()
         self.protocol = IMAP4ClientProtocol(local_loop, conn_lost_cb)
-        local_loop.create_task(local_loop.create_connection(lambda: self.protocol, host, port, ssl=ssl_context))
+        self._client_task = local_loop.create_task(local_loop.create_connection(lambda: self.protocol, host, port, ssl=ssl_context))
 
     def get_state(self) -> str:
         return self.protocol.state