diff --git a/napalm_procurve/procurve.py b/napalm_procurve/procurve.py
index f94c2a2..977fea9 100644
--- a/napalm_procurve/procurve.py
+++ b/napalm_procurve/procurve.py
@@ -244,23 +244,32 @@ class ProcurveDriver(SwitchDriver):
         logger.warning("REST API connect failed for %s — falling back to CLI", self.hostname)
         return False
 
+    def _netmiko_kwargs(self, legacy: bool = False) -> dict:
+        """Return kwargs for ConnectHandler, merging explicit fields with netmiko_optional_args.
+
+        Explicit fields (port, timeout, disabled_algorithms) take precedence and are
+        excluded from the spread to avoid 'multiple values for keyword argument' errors.
+        """
+        extra = {k: v for k, v in self.netmiko_optional_args.items()
+                 if k not in ("port", "timeout", "disabled_algorithms")}
+        return dict(
+            device_type=self.NETMIKO_DEVICE_TYPE,
+            host=self.hostname,
+            username=self.username,
+            password=self.password,
+            secret=self._secret,
+            port=self.port,
+            timeout=self.timeout,
+            disabled_algorithms=_SSH_DISABLED_LEGACY if legacy else _SSH_DISABLED_STANDARD,
+            **extra,
+        )
+
     def _try_ssh(self, legacy: bool = False) -> bool:
         """Probe and connect via SSH.  Returns True on success."""
         label = "SSH-legacy" if legacy else "SSH"
         logger.debug("Trying %s for %s", label, self.hostname)
-        disabled = _SSH_DISABLED_LEGACY if legacy else _SSH_DISABLED_STANDARD
         try:
-            conn = ConnectHandler(
-                device_type=self.NETMIKO_DEVICE_TYPE,
-                host=self.hostname,
-                username=self.username,
-                password=self.password,
-                secret=self._secret,
-                port=self.port,
-                timeout=self.timeout,
-                disabled_algorithms=disabled,
-                **self.netmiko_optional_args,
-            )
+            conn = ConnectHandler(**self._netmiko_kwargs(legacy))
             self._device = conn
             self._transport = "ssh_legacy" if legacy else "ssh"
             logger.info("Connected to %s via %s", self.hostname, label)
@@ -1114,19 +1123,8 @@ class ProcurveDriver(SwitchDriver):
 
             ssh_error: str = ""
             for legacy in (False, True):
-                disabled = _SSH_DISABLED_LEGACY if legacy else _SSH_DISABLED_STANDARD
                 try:
-                    conn = ConnectHandler(
-                        device_type=self.NETMIKO_DEVICE_TYPE,
-                        host=self.hostname,
-                        username=self.username,
-                        password=self.password,
-                        secret=self._secret,
-                        port=self.port,
-                        timeout=self.timeout,
-                        disabled_algorithms=disabled,
-                        **self.netmiko_optional_args,
-                    )
+                    conn = ConnectHandler(**self._netmiko_kwargs(legacy))
                     self._device = conn
                     self._transport = "ssh_legacy" if legacy else "ssh"
                     break