diff --git a/motioneye/sendmail.py b/motioneye/sendmail.py
index 9af77de71..69da393c6 100644
--- a/motioneye/sendmail.py
+++ b/motioneye/sendmail.py
@@ -41,9 +41,10 @@
 
 
 def send_mail(server, port, account, password, tls, _from, to, subject, message, files):
-    conn = smtplib.SMTP(server, port, timeout=settings.SMTP_TIMEOUT)
     if tls:
-        conn.starttls()
+        conn = smtplib.SMTP_SSL(server, port, timeout=settings.SMTP_TIMEOUT)
+    else:
+        conn = smtplib.SMTP(server, port, timeout=settings.SMTP_TIMEOUT)
 
     if account and password:
         conn.login(account, password)