diff --git a/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/python/vici/protocol.py b/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/python/vici/protocol.py
index 879365188..45aec5312 100644
--- a/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/python/vici/protocol.py
+++ b/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/python/vici/protocol.py
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ from collections import OrderedDict
 from .exception import DeserializationException
 
 
+RECV_TIMEOUT_DEFAULT = object()
+
+
 class Transport(object):
     HEADER_LENGTH = 4
     MAX_SEGMENT = 512 * 1024
@@ -18,7 +21,7 @@ class Transport(object):
     def send(self, packet):
         self.socket.sendall(struct.pack("!I", len(packet)) + packet)
 
-    def receive(self, timeout=None):
+    def receive(self, timeout=RECV_TIMEOUT_DEFAULT):
         raw_length = self._recvall(self.HEADER_LENGTH, timeout)
         length, = struct.unpack("!I", raw_length)
         payload = self._recvall(length)
@@ -28,17 +31,21 @@ class Transport(object):
         self.socket.shutdown(socket.SHUT_RDWR)
         self.socket.close()
 
-    def _recvall(self, count, timeout=None):
+    def _recvall(self, count, timeout=RECV_TIMEOUT_DEFAULT):
         """Ensure to read count bytes from the socket"""
         data = b""
-        if count > 0:
+        old_timeout = self.socket.gettimeout()
+        if timeout is not RECV_TIMEOUT_DEFAULT:
             self.socket.settimeout(timeout)
-        while len(data) < count:
-            buf = self.socket.recv(count - len(data))
-            self.socket.settimeout(None)
-            if not buf:
-                raise socket.error('Connection closed')
-            data += buf
+        try:
+            while len(data) < count:
+                buf = self.socket.recv(count - len(data))
+                self.socket.settimeout(None)
+                if not buf:
+                    raise socket.error('Connection closed')
+                data += buf
+        finally:
+            self.socket.settimeout(old_timeout)
         return data
 
 
diff --git a/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/python/vici/session.py b/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/python/vici/session.py
index 79f2bda81..f45ff952e 100644
--- a/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/python/vici/session.py
+++ b/src/libcharon/plugins/vici/python/vici/session.py
@@ -1,12 +1,30 @@
 import socket
 
 from .exception import SessionException, CommandException, EventUnknownException
-from .protocol import Transport, Packet, Message
+from .protocol import Transport, Packet, Message, RECV_TIMEOUT_DEFAULT
 from .command_wrappers import CommandWrappers
 
 
 class Session(CommandWrappers, object):
     def __init__(self, sock=None):
+        """Establish a session with an IKE daemon.
+
+        By default, the session will connect to the `/var/run/charon.vici` Unix
+        domain socket.
+
+        If there is a need to connect a socket in another location or set
+        specific settings on the socket (like a timeout), create and connect
+        a socket and pass it to the `sock` parameter.
+
+        .. note::
+
+            In case a timeout is set on the socket, the internal read code
+            will temporarily disable it after receiving the first byte to avoid
+            partial read corruptions.
+
+        :param sock: socket connected to the IKE daemon (optional)
+        :type sock: socket.socket
+        """
         if sock is None:
             sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX)
             sock.connect("/var/run/charon.vici")
@@ -141,7 +159,7 @@ class Session(CommandWrappers, object):
                     )
                 )
 
-    def listen(self, event_types, timeout=None):
+    def listen(self, event_types, timeout=RECV_TIMEOUT_DEFAULT):
         """Register and listen for the given events.
 
         If a timeout is given, the generator produces a (None, None) tuple