diff --git a/aioelasticsearch/connection.py b/aioelasticsearch/connection.py
index 4903d517..1c532a22 100644
--- a/aioelasticsearch/connection.py
+++ b/aioelasticsearch/connection.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def __init__(
 
         self.verify_certs = verify_certs
 
-        self.base_url = URL.build(scheme='https' if self.use_ssl else 'http',
+        self.base_url = URL.build(scheme='https' if use_ssl else 'http',
                                   host=host,
                                   port=port,
                                   path=self.url_prefix)