diff --git a/libnm/nm-client.c b/libnm/nm-client.c
index f49de4b61..9af5eaf06 100644
--- a/libnm/nm-client.c
+++ b/libnm/nm-client.c
@@ -758,13 +758,38 @@ nm_client_check_connectivity (NMClient *client,
                               GCancellable *cancellable,
                               GError **error)
 {
+	gs_unref_variant GVariant *ret = NULL;
+	guint32 connectivity;
+
 	g_return_val_if_fail (NM_IS_CLIENT (client), NM_CONNECTIVITY_UNKNOWN);
 
-	if (!_nm_client_check_nm_running (client, error))
+	ret = _nm_object_dbus_call_sync (client,
+	                                 cancellable,
+	                                 NM_DBUS_PATH,
+	                                 NM_DBUS_INTERFACE,
+	                                 "CheckConnectivity",
+	                                 g_variant_new ("()"),
+	                                 G_VARIANT_TYPE ("(u)"),
+	                                 G_DBUS_CALL_FLAGS_NONE,
+	                                 NM_DBUS_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MSEC,
+	                                 TRUE,
+	                                 error);
+	if (!ret)
 		return NM_CONNECTIVITY_UNKNOWN;
 
-	return nm_manager_check_connectivity (NM_CLIENT_GET_PRIVATE (client)->manager,
-	                                      cancellable, error);
+	g_variant_get (ret,
+	               "(u)",
+	               &connectivity);
+
+	/* upon receiving the synchronous response, we hack the NMClient state
+	 * and update the property outside the ordered D-Bus messages (like
+	 * "PropertiesChanged" signals).
+	 *
+	 * This is really ugly, we shouldn't do this. */
+	_nm_manager_set_connectivity_hack (NM_CLIENT_GET_PRIVATE (client)->manager,
+	                                   connectivity);
+
+	return connectivity;
 }
 
 static void
diff --git a/libnm/nm-manager.c b/libnm/nm-manager.c
index 722d7192c..536047b6b 100644
--- a/libnm/nm-manager.c
+++ b/libnm/nm-manager.c
@@ -629,30 +629,15 @@ nm_manager_get_connectivity (NMManager *manager)
 	return NM_MANAGER_GET_PRIVATE (manager)->connectivity;
 }
 
-NMConnectivityState
-nm_manager_check_connectivity (NMManager *manager,
-                               GCancellable *cancellable,
-                               GError **error)
+void
+_nm_manager_set_connectivity_hack (NMManager *manager,
+                                   guint32 connectivity)
 {
-	NMManagerPrivate *priv;
-	guint32 connectivity;
+	NMManagerPrivate *priv = NM_MANAGER_GET_PRIVATE (manager);
 
-	g_return_val_if_fail (NM_IS_MANAGER (manager), NM_CONNECTIVITY_UNKNOWN);
-	priv = NM_MANAGER_GET_PRIVATE (manager);
-
-	if (nmdbus_manager_call_check_connectivity_sync (priv->proxy,
-	                                                 &connectivity,
-	                                                 cancellable, error)) {
-		if (connectivity != priv->connectivity) {
-			priv->connectivity = connectivity;
-			g_object_notify (G_OBJECT (manager), NM_MANAGER_CONNECTIVITY);
-		}
-		return connectivity;
-	}
-	else {
-		if (error && *error)
-			g_dbus_error_strip_remote_error (*error);
-		return NM_CONNECTIVITY_UNKNOWN;
+	if ((NMConnectivityState) connectivity != priv->connectivity) {
+		priv->connectivity = (NMConnectivityState) connectivity;
+		g_object_notify (G_OBJECT (manager), NM_MANAGER_CONNECTIVITY);
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/libnm/nm-manager.h b/libnm/nm-manager.h
index 859062dfe..86dd4c3cd 100644
--- a/libnm/nm-manager.h
+++ b/libnm/nm-manager.h
@@ -118,10 +118,9 @@ NMClientPermissionResult nm_manager_get_permission_result (NMManager *manager,
 
 NMConnectivityState nm_manager_get_connectivity          (NMManager *manager);
 
-_NM_DEPRECATED_SYNC_METHOD_INTERNAL
-NMConnectivityState nm_manager_check_connectivity        (NMManager *manager,
-                                                          GCancellable *cancellable,
-                                                          GError **error);
+void _nm_manager_set_connectivity_hack (NMManager *manager,
+                                        guint32 connectivity);
+
 void                nm_manager_check_connectivity_async  (NMManager *manager,
                                                           GCancellable *cancellable,
                                                           GAsyncReadyCallback callback,