diff --git a/plugins/outputs/graphite/graphite.go b/plugins/outputs/graphite/graphite.go
index 4e127ed7c..fb95aff83 100644
--- a/plugins/outputs/graphite/graphite.go
+++ b/plugins/outputs/graphite/graphite.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package graphite
 
 import (
 	"errors"
-	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"math/rand"
 	"net"
@@ -98,9 +97,12 @@ func (g *Graphite) Write(metrics []telegraf.Metric) error {
 	// Send data to a random server
 	p := rand.Perm(len(g.conns))
 	for _, n := range p {
-		if _, e := fmt.Fprint(g.conns[n], graphitePoints); e != nil {
+		if g.Timeout > 0 {
+			g.conns[n].SetWriteDeadline(time.Now().Add(time.Duration(g.Timeout) * time.Second))
+		}
+		if _, e := g.conns[n].Write([]byte(graphitePoints)); e != nil {
 			// Error
-			log.Println("ERROR: " + err.Error())
+			log.Println("ERROR: " + e.Error())
 			// Let's try the next one
 		} else {
 			// Success