diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 9c360d48..1b03c620 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ and this project adheres to `Semantic Versioning <https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 `Unreleased`_
 =============
+Fixed
+-----
+* Fix DBus connection leak when trying to connect to a forgotten ble device
 
 `0.22.3`_ (2024-10-05)
 ======================
diff --git a/bleak/backends/bluezdbus/client.py b/bleak/backends/bluezdbus/client.py
index ec225584..84fa1332 100644
--- a/bleak/backends/bluezdbus/client.py
+++ b/bleak/backends/bluezdbus/client.py
@@ -181,18 +181,18 @@ def on_value_changed(char_path: str, value: bytes) -> None:
                     if callback:
                         callback(bytearray(value))
 
-                watcher = manager.add_device_watcher(
-                    self._device_path, on_connected_changed, on_value_changed
-                )
-                self._remove_device_watcher = lambda: manager.remove_device_watcher(
-                    watcher
-                )
+                try:
+                    watcher = manager.add_device_watcher(
+                        self._device_path, on_connected_changed, on_value_changed
+                    )
+                    self._remove_device_watcher = lambda: manager.remove_device_watcher(
+                        watcher
+                    )
 
-                self._disconnect_monitor_event = local_disconnect_monitor_event = (
-                    asyncio.Event()
-                )
+                    self._disconnect_monitor_event = local_disconnect_monitor_event = (
+                        asyncio.Event()
+                    )
 
-                try:
                     try:
                         #
                         # The BlueZ backend does not disconnect devices when the