diff --git a/http.c b/http.c
index 1ad60f8..267fa1f 100644
--- a/http.c
+++ b/http.c
@@ -4265,6 +4265,12 @@ evhttp_get_request_connection(
 	event_debug(("%s: new request from %s:%s on "EV_SOCK_FMT"\n",
 		__func__, hostname, portname, EV_SOCK_ARG(fd)));
 
+	if (sa->sa_family != AF_UNIX) {
+		if (evutil_set_tcp_keepalive(fd, 1, 300) < 0) {
+			return (NULL);
+		}
+	}
+
 	/* we need a connection object to put the http request on */
 	if (http->bevcb != NULL) {
 		bev = (*http->bevcb)(http->base, http->bevcbarg);