diff --git a/podman/client.py b/podman/client.py
index f9a023e7..fd1b08ae 100644
--- a/podman/client.py
+++ b/podman/client.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Optional
 
+from podman.errors.exceptions import APIError, PodmanConnectionError
 from podman.api import cached_property
 from podman.api.client import APIClient
 from podman.api.path_utils import get_runtime_dir
@@ -73,6 +74,39 @@ def __init__(self, **kwargs) -> None:
             api_kwargs["base_url"] = "http+unix://" + path
         self.api = APIClient(**api_kwargs)
 
+        self._verify_connection()
+
+    def _verify_connection(self):
+        """Verify connection to Podman daemon during initialization.
+
+        Raises:
+            PodmanException: If unable to connect to Podman daemon
+        """
+        try:
+            # Attempt to get version info to verify connection
+            self.version()
+        except APIError as e:
+            if "No such file or directory" in str(e):
+                raise PodmanConnectionError(
+                    "Error while connecting to Podman daemon: "
+                    f"Could not find socket file - {str(e)}"
+                ) from e
+            raise PodmanConnectionError(f"Error while connecting to Podman daemon: {str(e)}") from e
+        except Exception as e:
+            raise PodmanConnectionError(f"Error while connecting to Podman daemon: {str(e)}") from e
+
+    def __enter__(self) -> "PodmanClient":
+        return self
+
+    def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_value, traceback) -> None:
+        self.close()
+
+    def __enter__(self) -> "PodmanClient":
+        return self
+
+    def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_value, traceback) -> None:
+        self.close()
+
     def __enter__(self) -> "PodmanClient":
         return self
 
diff --git a/podman/errors/__init__.py b/podman/errors/__init__.py
index ae8d9fa0..d5adb3ea 100644
--- a/podman/errors/__init__.py
+++ b/podman/errors/__init__.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
     'NotFoundError',
     'PodmanError',
     'StreamParseError',
+    'PodmanConnectionError',
 ]
 
 try:
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@
         NotFound,
         PodmanError,
         StreamParseError,
+        PodmanConnectionError,
     )
 except ImportError:
     pass
diff --git a/podman/errors/exceptions.py b/podman/errors/exceptions.py
index f92d886c..1c6149cd 100644
--- a/podman/errors/exceptions.py
+++ b/podman/errors/exceptions.py
@@ -145,6 +145,10 @@ class InvalidArgument(PodmanError):
     """Parameter to method/function was not valid."""
 
 
+class PodmanConnectionError(PodmanError):
+    """Exception raised when connection to Podman service fails using environment configuration."""
+
+
 class StreamParseError(RuntimeError):
     def __init__(self, reason):
         self.msg = reason
diff --git a/podman/tests/integration/test_system.py b/podman/tests/integration/test_system.py
index bcc38711..1cf43af6 100644
--- a/podman/tests/integration/test_system.py
+++ b/podman/tests/integration/test_system.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 import podman.tests.integration.base as base
 from podman import PodmanClient
-from podman.errors import APIError
+from podman.errors import APIError, PodmanConnectionError
 
 
 class SystemIntegrationTest(base.IntegrationTest):
@@ -64,3 +64,8 @@ def test_login(self):
     def test_from_env(self):
         """integration: from_env() no error"""
         PodmanClient.from_env()
+
+    def test_from_env_exceptions(self):
+        """integration: from_env() returns exceptions"""
+        with self.assertRaises(PodmanConnectionError):
+            PodmanClient.from_env(base_url="unix:///path/to/nonexistent.sock")