diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 437f952..a77bdc9 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ By using the pyGNMI tool you agree with `the license <LICENSE.txt>`_.
 Dev Log
 =======
 
+Release **0.4.5**:
+
+- Minor bug fix.
+
 Release **0.4.4**:
 
 - Minor bug fix.
@@ -221,7 +225,7 @@ Release **0.1.0**:
 
 (c)2020-2021, karneliuk.com
 
-.. |version| image:: https://img.shields.io/static/v1?label=latest&message=v0.4.3&color=success
+.. |version| image:: https://img.shields.io/static/v1?label=latest&message=v0.4.4&color=success
 .. _version: https://pypi.org/project/pygnmi/
 .. |tag| image:: https://img.shields.io/static/v1?label=status&message=in%20development&color=yellow
 .. _tag: https://pypi.org/project/pygnmi/
diff --git a/dist/pygnmi-0.4.4.tar.gz b/dist/pygnmi-0.4.4.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f02c44c
Binary files /dev/null and b/dist/pygnmi-0.4.4.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/pygnmi/__init__.py b/pygnmi/__init__.py
index f16ae44..f805761 100644
--- a/pygnmi/__init__.py
+++ b/pygnmi/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 #(c)2019-2021, karneliuk.com
 
-__version__ = '0.4.4'
\ No newline at end of file
+__version__ = '0.4.5'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pygnmi/client.py b/pygnmi/client.py
index afa2f41..25e68c5 100644
--- a/pygnmi/client.py
+++ b/pygnmi/client.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ def __init__(self, target: tuple, username: str = None, password: str = None,
         self.__insecure = insecure
         self.__path_cert = path_cert
         self.__options=[('grpc.ssl_target_name_override', override)] if override else None
+        self.__gnmi_timeout = gnmi_timeout
 
         if re.match('.*:.*', target[0]):
             self.__target = (f'[{target[0]}]', target[1])
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ def __enter__(self):
 
         if self.__insecure:
             self.__channel = grpc.insecure_channel(f'{self.__target[0]}:{self.__target[1]}', self.__metadata)
-            grpc.channel_ready_future(self.__channel).result(timeout=gnmi_timeout)
+            grpc.channel_ready_future(self.__channel).result(timeout=self.__gnmi_timeout)
             self.__stub = gNMIStub(self.__channel)
 
         else:
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ def __enter__(self):
 
             self.__channel = grpc.secure_channel(f'{self.__target[0]}:{self.__target[1]}', 
                                                  credentials=cert, options=self.__options)
-            grpc.channel_ready_future(self.__channel).result(timeout=gnmi_timeout)
+            grpc.channel_ready_future(self.__channel).result(timeout=self.__gnmi_timeout)
             self.__stub = gNMIStub(self.__channel)
 
         return self
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 3bac26e..e9295a7 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 setup(
   name = 'pygnmi',
   packages = ['pygnmi', 'pygnmi.spec', 'pygnmi.artefacts'],
-  version = '0.4.4',
+  version = '0.4.5',
   license='bsd-3-clause',
   description = 'This repository contains pure Python implementation of the gNMI client to interact with the network functions.',
   long_description = long_description,
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
   author = 'Anton Karneliuk',
   author_email = 'anton@karneliuk.com',
   url = 'https://github.com/akarneliuk/pygnmi',
-  download_url = 'https://github.com/akarneliuk/pygnmi/archive/v0.4.4.tar.gz',
+  download_url = 'https://github.com/akarneliuk/pygnmi/archive/v0.4.5.tar.gz',
   keywords = ['gnmi', 'automation', 'grpc', 'network'], 
   install_requires=[
           'grpcio',