diff --git a/aiokafka/client.py b/aiokafka/client.py
index 91a3e0ae..3e6b6dd4 100644
--- a/aiokafka/client.py
+++ b/aiokafka/client.py
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ async def _get_conn(self, node_id, *, group=ConnectionGroup.DEFAULT, no_hint=Fal
             if group == ConnectionGroup.DEFAULT:
                 # Connection failures imply that our metadata is stale, so
                 # let's refresh
-                self.force_metadata_update()
+                await self.force_metadata_update()
             return None
         else:
             return self._conns[conn_id]