diff --git a/src/client/mod.rs b/src/client/mod.rs
index 5a9bc61fc2..50bd0d7914 100644
--- a/src/client/mod.rs
+++ b/src/client/mod.rs
@@ -145,6 +145,8 @@ pub struct Config<C> {
     connect_timeout: Duration,
     connector: C,
     keep_alive: bool,
+    keep_alive_timeout: Option<Duration>,
+    //TODO: make use of max_idle config
     max_idle: usize,
     max_sockets: usize,
 }
@@ -157,6 +159,7 @@ impl<C> Config<C> where C: Connect + Send + 'static {
             connect_timeout: self.connect_timeout,
             connector: val,
             keep_alive: self.keep_alive,
+            keep_alive_timeout: Some(Duration::from_secs(60 * 2)),
             max_idle: self.max_idle,
             max_sockets: self.max_sockets,
         }
@@ -171,6 +174,17 @@ impl<C> Config<C> where C: Connect + Send + 'static {
         self
     }
 
+    /// Set an optional timeout for idle sockets being kept-alive.
+    ///
+    /// Pass `None` to disable timeout.
+    ///
+    /// Default is 2 minutes.
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn keep_alive_timeout(mut self, val: Option<Duration>) -> Config<C> {
+        self.keep_alive_timeout = val;
+        self
+    }
+
     /// Set the max table size allocated for holding on to live sockets.
     ///
     /// Default is 1024.
@@ -202,6 +216,7 @@ impl Default for Config<DefaultConnector> {
             connect_timeout: Duration::from_secs(10),
             connector: DefaultConnector::default(),
             keep_alive: true,
+            keep_alive_timeout: Some(Duration::from_secs(60 * 2)),
             max_idle: 5,
             max_sockets: 1024,
         }
diff --git a/src/server/mod.rs b/src/server/mod.rs
index 85654e77a3..c3a5dbd188 100644
--- a/src/server/mod.rs
+++ b/src/server/mod.rs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ impl<A: Accept, H: HandlerFactory<A::Output>> fmt::Debug for ServerLoop<A, H> {
 pub struct Server<T: Accept> {
     listener: T,
     keep_alive: bool,
-    idle_timeout: Duration,
+    idle_timeout: Option<Duration>,
     max_sockets: usize,
 }
 
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ impl<T> Server<T> where T: Accept, T::Output: Transport {
         Server {
             listener: listener,
             keep_alive: true,
-            idle_timeout: Duration::from_secs(10),
+            idle_timeout: Some(Duration::from_secs(10)),
             max_sockets: 4096,
         }
     }
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ impl<T> Server<T> where T: Accept, T::Output: Transport {
     /// Sets how long an idle connection will be kept before closing.
     ///
     /// Default is 10 seconds.
-    pub fn idle_timeout(mut self, val: Duration) -> Server<T> {
+    pub fn idle_timeout(mut self, val: Option<Duration>) -> Server<T> {
         self.idle_timeout = val;
         self
     }