diff --git a/Lib/smtplib.py b/Lib/smtplib.py
index beda161663e..6536371846b 100755
--- a/Lib/smtplib.py
+++ b/Lib/smtplib.py
@@ -224,7 +224,9 @@ def send(self, str):
         if self.debuglevel > 0: print 'send:', `str`
         if self.sock:
             try:
-                self.sock.send(str)
+                sendptr = 0
+                while sendptr < len(str):
+                    sendptr = sendptr + self.sock.send(str[sendptr:])
             except socket.error:
                 raise SMTPServerDisconnected('Server not connected')
         else: