diff --git a/docs/en_US/release_notes_6_6.rst b/docs/en_US/release_notes_6_6.rst
index 8c84d16a2..cabbc2c19 100644
--- a/docs/en_US/release_notes_6_6.rst
+++ b/docs/en_US/release_notes_6_6.rst
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ Housekeeping
 Bug fixes
 *********
 
+| `Issue #6991 <https://redmine.postgresql.org/issues/6991>`_ -  Fixed an issue where pgadmin cannot connect to LDAP when STARTTLS is required before bind.
 | `Issue #6999 <https://redmine.postgresql.org/issues/6999>`_ -  Fixed an issue where a warning is flashed every time for an email address when authentication sources are internal and ldap.
 | `Issue #7124 <https://redmine.postgresql.org/issues/7124>`_ -  Fixed the schema diff issue where tables have different column positions and a column has a default value.
 | `Issue #7152 <https://redmine.postgresql.org/issues/7152>`_ -  Added comments column for the functions collection node.
diff --git a/web/pgadmin/authenticate/ldap.py b/web/pgadmin/authenticate/ldap.py
index 1d2c14e88..c1d6fea65 100644
--- a/web/pgadmin/authenticate/ldap.py
+++ b/web/pgadmin/authenticate/ldap.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 import ssl
 import config
 from ldap3 import Connection, Server, Tls, ALL, ALL_ATTRIBUTES, ANONYMOUS,\
-    SIMPLE
+    SIMPLE, AUTO_BIND_TLS_BEFORE_BIND, AUTO_BIND_NO_TLS
 from ldap3.core.exceptions import LDAPSocketOpenError, LDAPBindError,\
     LDAPInvalidScopeError, LDAPAttributeError, LDAPInvalidFilterError,\
     LDAPStartTLSError, LDAPSSLConfigurationError
@@ -108,18 +108,21 @@ class LDAPAuthentication(BaseAuthentication):
         if not status:
             return status, server
 
+        auto_bind = AUTO_BIND_TLS_BEFORE_BIND if self.start_tls \
+            else AUTO_BIND_NO_TLS
+
         # Create the connection
         try:
             if self.anonymous_bind:
                 self.conn = Connection(server,
-                                       auto_bind=True,
+                                       auto_bind=auto_bind,
                                        authentication=ANONYMOUS
                                        )
             else:
                 self.conn = Connection(server,
                                        user=self.bind_user,
                                        password=self.bind_pass,
-                                       auto_bind=True,
+                                       auto_bind=auto_bind,
                                        authentication=SIMPLE
                                        )
 
@@ -131,21 +134,16 @@ class LDAPAuthentication(BaseAuthentication):
             current_app.logger.exception(
                 "Error binding to the LDAP server.")
             return False, gettext("Error binding to the LDAP server.")
+        except LDAPStartTLSError as e:
+            current_app.logger.exception(
+                "Error starting TLS: {}\n".format(e))
+            return False, gettext("Error starting TLS: {}\n"
+                                  ).format(e.args[0])
         except Exception as e:
             current_app.logger.exception(
                 ERROR_CONNECTING_LDAP_SERVER.format(e))
             return False, ERROR_CONNECTING_LDAP_SERVER.format(e.args[0])
 
-        # Enable TLS if STARTTLS is configured
-        if self.start_tls:
-            try:
-                self.conn.start_tls()
-            except LDAPStartTLSError as e:
-                current_app.logger.exception(
-                    "Error starting TLS: {}\n".format(e))
-                return False, gettext("Error starting TLS: {}\n"
-                                      ).format(e.args[0])
-
         return True, None
 
     def __auto_create_user(self, user_email):