diff --git a/sjrpc/client/simple.py b/sjrpc/client/simple.py
index 154903bc9bda57bc45f52e6bdbd13b5430cbe41d..5b4f3836e19b0738c3be6f98275afd9d39c27da1 100644
--- a/sjrpc/client/simple.py
+++ b/sjrpc/client/simple.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ class SimpleRpcClient(ConnectionManager):
         
         self._on_disconnect = on_disconnect
         self._connection = connection
+        self._connection.set_handler(default_handler)
         self.register(self._connection)
 
     @classmethod
@@ -45,7 +46,8 @@ class SimpleRpcClient(ConnectionManager):
 
         connection = RpcConnection.from_addr(addr, port, None,
                                              enable_ssl=enable_ssl, cert=cert)
-        client = cls(connection, default_handler, on_disconnect)
+        client = cls(connection, default_handler=default_handler,
+                     on_disconnect=on_disconnect)
         connection._manager = client
         return client