diff --git a/CHANGES/8097.bugfix.rst b/CHANGES/8097.bugfix.rst
new file mode 120000
index 00000000000..c799b052a6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGES/8097.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+8098.bugfix.rst
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CHANGES/8098.bugfix.rst b/CHANGES/8098.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0242fb978e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGES/8098.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fixed backwards compatibility breakage of ``ssl`` parameter when set outside of
+``ClientSession`` (e.g. directly in ``TCPConnector``) -- by :user:`Dreamsorcerer`.
diff --git a/aiohttp/client_reqrep.py b/aiohttp/client_reqrep.py
index bb43ae9318d..e0de951a33a 100644
--- a/aiohttp/client_reqrep.py
+++ b/aiohttp/client_reqrep.py
@@ -159,6 +159,8 @@ def _merge_ssl_params(
     ssl_context: Optional["SSLContext"],
     fingerprint: Optional[bytes],
 ) -> Union["SSLContext", bool, Fingerprint]:
+    if ssl is None:
+        ssl = True  # Double check for backwards compatibility
     if verify_ssl is not None and not verify_ssl:
         warnings.warn(
             "verify_ssl is deprecated, use ssl=False instead",
diff --git a/tests/test_connector.py b/tests/test_connector.py
index dc8aa3c2605..142abab3c15 100644
--- a/tests/test_connector.py
+++ b/tests/test_connector.py
@@ -2001,6 +2001,11 @@ async def test_default_use_dns_cache() -> None:
     assert conn.use_dns_cache
 
 
+async def test_ssl_none() -> None:
+    conn = aiohttp.TCPConnector(ssl=None)
+    assert conn._ssl is True
+
+
 async def test_resolver_not_called_with_address_is_ip(loop) -> None:
     resolver = mock.MagicMock()
     connector = aiohttp.TCPConnector(resolver=resolver)