diff --git a/kombu/utils/eventio.py b/kombu/utils/eventio.py
index d1d6813c..baa5a318 100644
--- a/kombu/utils/eventio.py
+++ b/kombu/utils/eventio.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ class _epoll(object):
             pass
 
     def poll(self, timeout):
-        return self._epoll.poll(timeout and timeout / 1000.0)
+        return self._epoll.poll(timeout and timeout / 1000.0 or -1)
 
 
 class _kqueue(object):