diff --git a/src/server/mod.rs b/src/server/mod.rs
index 14fa36dac2..9bf8aac116 100644
--- a/src/server/mod.rs
+++ b/src/server/mod.rs
@@ -111,8 +111,6 @@ use std::fmt;
 use std::io::{self, ErrorKind, BufWriter, Write};
 use std::net::{SocketAddr, ToSocketAddrs};
 use std::thread::{self, JoinHandle};
-
-#[cfg(feature = "timeouts")]
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 use num_cpus;
@@ -146,20 +144,16 @@ mod listener;
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct Server<L = HttpListener> {
     listener: L,
-    _timeouts: Timeouts,
+    timeouts: Timeouts,
 }
 
-#[cfg(feature = "timeouts")]
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Default, Debug)]
 struct Timeouts {
     read: Option<Duration>,
     write: Option<Duration>,
+    keep_alive: Option<Duration>,
 }
 
-#[cfg(not(feature = "timeouts"))]
-#[derive(Clone, Copy, Default, Debug)]
-struct Timeouts;
-
 macro_rules! try_option(
     ($e:expr) => {{
         match $e {
@@ -175,18 +169,30 @@ impl<L: NetworkListener> Server<L> {
     pub fn new(listener: L) -> Server<L> {
         Server {
             listener: listener,
-            _timeouts: Timeouts::default(),
+            timeouts: Timeouts::default(),
         }
     }
 
+    /// Enables keep-alive for this server.
+    ///
+    /// The timeout duration passed will be used to determine how long
+    /// to keep the connection alive before dropping it.
+    ///
+    /// **NOTE**: The timeout will only be used when the `timeouts` feature
+    /// is enabled for hyper, and rustc is 1.4 or greater.
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn keep_alive(&mut self, timeout: Duration) {
+        self.timeouts.keep_alive = Some(timeout);
+    }
+
     #[cfg(feature = "timeouts")]
     pub fn set_read_timeout(&mut self, dur: Option<Duration>) {
-        self._timeouts.read = dur;
+        self.timeouts.read = dur;
     }
 
     #[cfg(feature = "timeouts")]
     pub fn set_write_timeout(&mut self, dur: Option<Duration>) {
-        self._timeouts.write = dur;
+        self.timeouts.write = dur;
     }
 
 
@@ -228,7 +234,7 @@ L: NetworkListener + Send + 'static {
 
     debug!("threads = {:?}", threads);
     let pool = ListenerPool::new(server.listener);
-    let worker = Worker::new(handler, server._timeouts);
+    let worker = Worker::new(handler, server.timeouts);
     let work = move |mut stream| worker.handle_connection(&mut stream);
 
     let guard = thread::spawn(move || pool.accept(work, threads));
@@ -241,7 +247,7 @@ L: NetworkListener + Send + 'static {
 
 struct Worker<H: Handler + 'static> {
     handler: H,
-    _timeouts: Timeouts,
+    timeouts: Timeouts,
 }
 
 impl<H: Handler + 'static> Worker<H> {
@@ -249,7 +255,7 @@ impl<H: Handler + 'static> Worker<H> {
     fn new(handler: H, timeouts: Timeouts) -> Worker<H> {
         Worker {
             handler: handler,
-            _timeouts: timeouts,
+            timeouts: timeouts,
         }
     }
 
@@ -258,7 +264,7 @@ impl<H: Handler + 'static> Worker<H> {
 
         self.handler.on_connection_start();
 
-        if let Err(e) = self.set_timeouts(stream) {
+        if let Err(e) = self.set_timeouts(&*stream) {
             error!("set_timeouts error: {:?}", e);
             return;
         }
@@ -273,73 +279,97 @@ impl<H: Handler + 'static> Worker<H> {
 
         // FIXME: Use Type ascription
         let stream_clone: &mut NetworkStream = &mut stream.clone();
-        let rdr = BufReader::new(stream_clone);
-        let wrt = BufWriter::new(stream);
+        let mut rdr = BufReader::new(stream_clone);
+        let mut wrt = BufWriter::new(stream);
 
-        self.keep_alive_loop(rdr, wrt, addr);
+        while self.keep_alive_loop(&mut rdr, &mut wrt, addr) {
+            if let Err(e) = self.set_read_timeout(*rdr.get_ref(), self.timeouts.keep_alive) {
+                error!("set_read_timeout keep_alive {:?}", e);
+                break;
+            }
+        }
 
         self.handler.on_connection_end();
 
         debug!("keep_alive loop ending for {}", addr);
     }
 
+    fn set_timeouts(&self, s: &NetworkStream) -> io::Result<()> {
+        try!(self.set_read_timeout(s, self.timeouts.read));
+        self.set_write_timeout(s, self.timeouts.write)
+    }
+
+
     #[cfg(not(feature = "timeouts"))]
-    fn set_timeouts<S>(&self, _: &mut S) -> io::Result<()> where S: NetworkStream {
+    fn set_write_timeout(&self, _s: &NetworkStream, _timeout: Option<Duration>) -> io::Result<()> {
         Ok(())
     }
 
     #[cfg(feature = "timeouts")]
-    fn set_timeouts<S>(&self, s: &mut S) -> io::Result<()> where S: NetworkStream {
-        try!(s.set_read_timeout(self._timeouts.read));
-        s.set_write_timeout(self._timeouts.write)
+    fn set_write_timeout(&self, s: &NetworkStream, timeout: Option<Duration>) -> io::Result<()> {
+        s.set_write_timeout(timeout)
     }
 
-    fn keep_alive_loop<W: Write>(&self, mut rdr: BufReader<&mut NetworkStream>,
-            mut wrt: W, addr: SocketAddr) {
-        let mut keep_alive = true;
-        while keep_alive {
-            let req = match Request::new(&mut rdr, addr) {
-                Ok(req) => req,
-                Err(Error::Io(ref e)) if e.kind() == ErrorKind::ConnectionAborted => {
-                    trace!("tcp closed, cancelling keep-alive loop");
-                    break;
-                }
-                Err(Error::Io(e)) => {
-                    debug!("ioerror in keepalive loop = {:?}", e);
-                    break;
-                }
-                Err(e) => {
-                    //TODO: send a 400 response
-                    error!("request error = {:?}", e);
-                    break;
-                }
-            };
+    #[cfg(not(feature = "timeouts"))]
+    fn set_read_timeout(&self, _s: &NetworkStream, _timeout: Option<Duration>) -> io::Result<()> {
+        Ok(())
+    }
 
+    #[cfg(feature = "timeouts")]
+    fn set_read_timeout(&self, s: &NetworkStream, timeout: Option<Duration>) -> io::Result<()> {
+        s.set_read_timeout(timeout)
+    }
 
-            if !self.handle_expect(&req, &mut wrt) {
-                break;
+    fn keep_alive_loop<W: Write>(&self, mut rdr: &mut BufReader<&mut NetworkStream>,
+            wrt: &mut W, addr: SocketAddr) -> bool {
+        let req = match Request::new(rdr, addr) {
+            Ok(req) => req,
+            Err(Error::Io(ref e)) if e.kind() == ErrorKind::ConnectionAborted => {
+                trace!("tcp closed, cancelling keep-alive loop");
+                return false;
             }
-
-            keep_alive = http::should_keep_alive(req.version, &req.headers);
-            let version = req.version;
-            let mut res_headers = Headers::new();
-            if !keep_alive {
-                res_headers.set(Connection::close());
+            Err(Error::Io(e)) => {
+                debug!("ioerror in keepalive loop = {:?}", e);
+                return false;
             }
-            {
-                let mut res = Response::new(&mut wrt, &mut res_headers);
-                res.version = version;
-                self.handler.handle(req, res);
+            Err(e) => {
+                //TODO: send a 400 response
+                error!("request error = {:?}", e);
+                return false;
             }
+        };
 
-            // if the request was keep-alive, we need to check that the server agrees
-            // if it wasn't, then the server cannot force it to be true anyways
-            if keep_alive {
-                keep_alive = http::should_keep_alive(version, &res_headers);
-            }
 
-            debug!("keep_alive = {:?} for {}", keep_alive, addr);
+        if !self.handle_expect(&req, wrt) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        if let Err(e) = req.set_read_timeout(self.timeouts.read) {
+            error!("set_read_timeout {:?}", e);
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        let mut keep_alive = self.timeouts.keep_alive.is_some() &&
+            http::should_keep_alive(req.version, &req.headers);
+        let version = req.version;
+        let mut res_headers = Headers::new();
+        if !keep_alive {
+            res_headers.set(Connection::close());
         }
+        {
+            let mut res = Response::new(wrt, &mut res_headers);
+            res.version = version;
+            self.handler.handle(req, res);
+        }
+
+        // if the request was keep-alive, we need to check that the server agrees
+        // if it wasn't, then the server cannot force it to be true anyways
+        if keep_alive {
+            keep_alive = http::should_keep_alive(version, &res_headers);
+        }
+
+        debug!("keep_alive = {:?} for {}", keep_alive, addr);
+        keep_alive
     }
 
     fn handle_expect<W: Write>(&self, req: &Request, wrt: &mut W) -> bool {
diff --git a/src/server/request.rs b/src/server/request.rs
index 732aaa33c7..851a426f17 100644
--- a/src/server/request.rs
+++ b/src/server/request.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 //! target URI, headers, and message body.
 use std::io::{self, Read};
 use std::net::SocketAddr;
+use std::time::Duration;
 
 use buffer::BufReader;
 use net::NetworkStream;
@@ -64,6 +65,19 @@ impl<'a, 'b: 'a> Request<'a, 'b> {
         })
     }
 
+    /// Set the read timeout of the underlying NetworkStream.
+    #[cfg(feature = "timeouts")]
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn set_read_timeout(&self, timeout: Option<Duration>) -> io::Result<()> {
+        self.body.get_ref().get_ref().set_read_timeout(timeout)
+    }
+
+    /// Set the read timeout of the underlying NetworkStream.
+    #[cfg(not(feature = "timeouts"))]
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn set_read_timeout(&self, _timeout: Option<Duration>) -> io::Result<()> {
+        Ok(())
+    }
     /// Get a reference to the underlying `NetworkStream`.
     #[inline]
     pub fn downcast_ref<T: NetworkStream>(&self) -> Option<&T> {