diff --git a/src/connection.c b/src/connection.c
index 3cdb25a..10f4d7f 100644
--- a/src/connection.c
+++ b/src/connection.c
@@ -130,11 +130,17 @@ static void connection_cb(struct ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents) {
 		joblist_append(srv, con);
 }
 
+static void connection_keepalive_cb(struct ev_loop *loop, ev_timer *w, int revents) {
+	connection *con = (connection*) w->data;
+	UNUSED(loop); UNUSED(revents);
+	con_put(con->sock.srv, con);
+}
+
 connection* connection_new(server *srv) {
 	connection *con = g_slice_new0(connection);
 	UNUSED(srv);
 
-	con->state = CON_STATE_REQUEST_START;
+	con->state = CON_STATE_DEAD;
 	con->response_headers_sent = FALSE;
 	con->expect_100_cont = FALSE;
 
@@ -158,11 +164,16 @@ connection* connection_new(server *srv) {
 	physical_init(&con->physical);
 	response_init(&con->response);
 
+	con->keep_alive_data.link = NULL;
+	con->keep_alive_data.timeout = 0;
+	my_ev_init(&con->keep_alive_data.watcher, connection_keepalive_cb);
+	con->keep_alive_data.watcher.data = con;
+
 	return con;
 }
 
 void connection_reset(server *srv, connection *con) {
-	con->state = CON_STATE_REQUEST_START;
+	con->state = CON_STATE_DEAD;
 	con->response_headers_sent = FALSE;
 	con->expect_100_cont = FALSE;
 
@@ -192,10 +203,39 @@ void connection_reset(server *srv, connection *con) {
 	request_reset(&con->request);
 	physical_reset(&con->physical);
 	response_reset(&con->response);
+
+	if (con->keep_alive_data.link) {
+		g_queue_delete_link(&srv->keep_alive_queue, con->keep_alive_data.link);
+		con->keep_alive_data.link = NULL;
+	}
+	con->keep_alive_data.timeout = 0;
+	ev_timer_stop(srv->loop, &con->keep_alive_data.watcher);
 }
 
+void server_check_keepalive(server *srv);
 void connection_reset_keep_alive(server *srv, connection *con) {
-	con->state = CON_STATE_REQUEST_START;
+	ev_timer_stop(srv->loop, &con->keep_alive_data.watcher);
+	{
+		guint timeout = GPOINTER_TO_INT(CORE_OPTION(CORE_OPTION_MAX_KEEP_ALIVE_IDLE));
+		if (timeout == 0) {
+			con_put(srv, con);
+			return;
+		}
+		if (timeout >= srv->keep_alive_queue_timeout) {
+			/* queue is sorted by con->keep_alive_data.timeout */
+			gboolean need_start = (0 == srv->keep_alive_queue.length);
+			con->keep_alive_data.timeout = ev_now((srv)->loop) + srv->keep_alive_queue_timeout;
+			g_queue_push_tail(&srv->keep_alive_queue, con);
+			con->keep_alive_data.link = g_queue_peek_tail_link(&srv->keep_alive_queue);
+			if (need_start)
+				server_check_keepalive(srv);
+		} else {
+			ev_timer_set(&con->keep_alive_data.watcher, timeout, 0);
+			ev_timer_start(srv->loop, &con->keep_alive_data.watcher);
+		}
+	}
+
+	con->state = CON_STATE_KEEP_ALIVE;
 	con->response_headers_sent = FALSE;
 	con->expect_100_cont = FALSE;
 
@@ -218,7 +258,7 @@ void connection_reset_keep_alive(server *srv, connection *con) {
 }
 
 void connection_free(server *srv, connection *con) {
-	con->state = CON_STATE_REQUEST_START;
+	con->state = CON_STATE_DEAD;
 	con->response_headers_sent = FALSE;
 	con->expect_100_cont = FALSE;
 
@@ -249,6 +289,13 @@ void connection_free(server *srv, connection *con) {
 	physical_clear(&con->physical);
 	response_clear(&con->response);
 
+	if (con->keep_alive_data.link) {
+		g_queue_delete_link(&srv->keep_alive_queue, con->keep_alive_data.link);
+		con->keep_alive_data.link = NULL;
+	}
+	con->keep_alive_data.timeout = 0;
+	ev_timer_stop(srv->loop, &con->keep_alive_data.watcher);
+
 	g_slice_free(connection, con);
 }
 
@@ -264,6 +311,26 @@ void connection_state_machine(server *srv, connection *con) {
 	gboolean done = FALSE;
 	do {
 		switch (con->state) {
+		case CON_STATE_DEAD:
+			done = TRUE;
+			break;
+
+		case CON_STATE_KEEP_ALIVE:
+			if (con->raw_in->length > 0) {
+				/* stop keep alive timeout watchers */
+				if (con->keep_alive_data.link) {
+					g_queue_delete_link(&srv->keep_alive_queue, con->keep_alive_data.link);
+					con->keep_alive_data.link = NULL;
+				}
+				con->keep_alive_data.timeout = 0;
+				ev_timer_stop(srv->loop, &con->keep_alive_data.watcher);
+
+				connection_set_state(srv, con, CON_STATE_REQUEST_START);
+			} else
+				done = TRUE;
+			break;
+
+
 		case CON_STATE_REQUEST_START:
 			connection_set_state(srv, con, CON_STATE_READ_REQUEST_HEADER);
 			action_enter(con, srv->mainaction);
diff --git a/src/connection.h b/src/connection.h
index f54282f..980f2d2 100644
--- a/src/connection.h
+++ b/src/connection.h
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@
 #include "base.h"
 
 typedef enum {
+	/** unused */
+	CON_STATE_DEAD,
+
+	/** waiting for new input after first request */
+	CON_STATE_KEEP_ALIVE,
+
 	/** after the connect, the request is initialized, keep-alive starts here again */
 	CON_STATE_REQUEST_START,
 
@@ -89,6 +95,13 @@ struct connection {
 
 	struct log_t *log;
 	gint log_level;
+
+	/* Keep alive timeout data */
+	struct {
+		GList *link;
+		ev_tstamp timeout;
+		ev_timer watcher;
+	} keep_alive_data;
 };
 
 LI_API connection* connection_new(server *srv);
diff --git a/src/plugin_core.c b/src/plugin_core.c
index 76401d6..8d1bdd5 100644
--- a/src/plugin_core.c
+++ b/src/plugin_core.c
@@ -433,6 +433,7 @@ static plugin_option options[] = {
 	{ "static-file.exclude", OPTION_LIST, NULL, NULL, NULL },
 
 	{ "server.tag", OPTION_STRING, NULL, NULL, NULL },
+	{ "server.max_keep_alive_idle", OPTION_INT, GINT_TO_POINTER(5), NULL, NULL },
 	{ NULL, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL }
 };
 
diff --git a/src/plugin_core.h b/src/plugin_core.h
index 7bc78cd..7407612 100644
--- a/src/plugin_core.h
+++ b/src/plugin_core.h
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ enum core_options_t {
 
 	CORE_OPTION_STATIC_FILE_EXCLUDE = 3,
 
-	CORE_OPTION_SERVER_TAG = 4
+	CORE_OPTION_SERVER_TAG = 4,
+	CORE_OPTION_MAX_KEEP_ALIVE_IDLE = 5
 };
 
 /* the core plugin always has base index 0, as it is the first plugin loaded */
diff --git a/src/server.c b/src/server.c
index cf94f9c..97aaf28 100644
--- a/src/server.c
+++ b/src/server.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 
 #include "base.h"
 #include "utils.h"
+#include "plugin_core.h"
 
 struct server_closing_socket;
 typedef struct server_closing_socket server_closing_socket;
@@ -85,13 +86,54 @@ static void sigpipe_cb(struct ev_loop *loop, struct ev_signal *w, int revents) {
 	ev_unref(loop); /* Signal watchers shouldn't keep loop alive */ \
 } while (0)
 
+void server_check_keepalive(server *srv) {
+	ev_tstamp now = ev_now((srv)->loop);
+
+	if (0 == srv->keep_alive_queue.length) {
+		ev_timer_stop(srv->loop, &srv->keep_alive_timer);
+	} else {
+		srv->keep_alive_timer.repeat = ((connection*)g_queue_peek_head(&srv->keep_alive_queue))->keep_alive_data.timeout - now + 1;
+		ev_timer_again(srv->loop, &srv->keep_alive_timer);
+	}
+}
+
+static void server_keepalive_cb(struct ev_loop *loop, ev_timer *w, int revents) {
+	server *srv = (server*) w->data;
+	ev_tstamp now = ev_now((srv)->loop);
+	GQueue *q = &srv->keep_alive_queue;
+	GList *l;
+	connection *con;
+
+	UNUSED(loop);
+	UNUSED(revents);
+
+	while ( NULL != (l = g_queue_peek_head_link(q)) &&
+	        (con = (connection*) l->data)->keep_alive_data.timeout <= now ) {
+		guint timeout = GPOINTER_TO_INT(CORE_OPTION(CORE_OPTION_MAX_KEEP_ALIVE_IDLE));
+		ev_tstamp remaining = timeout - srv->keep_alive_queue_timeout - (now - con->keep_alive_data.timeout);
+		if (remaining > 0) {
+			ev_timer_set(&con->keep_alive_data.watcher, remaining, 0);
+			ev_timer_start(srv->loop, &con->keep_alive_data.watcher);
+		} else {
+			/* close it */
+			con_put(srv, con);
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (NULL == l) {
+		ev_timer_stop(srv->loop, &srv->keep_alive_timer);
+	} else {
+		srv->keep_alive_timer.repeat = con->keep_alive_data.timeout - now + 1;
+		ev_timer_again(srv->loop, &srv->keep_alive_timer);
+	}
+}
+
 server* server_new() {
 	server* srv = g_slice_new0(server);
 
 	srv->magic = LIGHTTPD_SERVER_MAGIC;
 	srv->state = SERVER_STARTING;
 
-
 	srv->connections_active = 0;
 	srv->connections = g_array_new(FALSE, TRUE, sizeof(connection*));
 	srv->sockets = g_array_new(FALSE, TRUE, sizeof(server_socket*));
@@ -114,6 +156,10 @@ server* server_new() {
 
 	log_init(srv);
 
+	g_queue_init(&srv->keep_alive_queue);
+	my_ev_init(&srv->keep_alive_timer, server_keepalive_cb);
+	srv->keep_alive_timer.data = srv;
+
 	return srv;
 }
 
@@ -183,6 +229,9 @@ void server_free(server* srv) {
 	g_mutex_free(srv->log_mutex);
 	g_async_queue_unref(srv->log_queue);
 
+	g_queue_clear(&srv->keep_alive_queue);
+	ev_timer_stop(srv->loop, &srv->keep_alive_timer);
+
 	g_slice_free(server, srv);
 }
 
@@ -239,6 +288,7 @@ static void server_listen_cb(struct ev_loop *loop, ev_io *w, int revents) {
 
 	while (-1 != (s = accept(w->fd, (struct sockaddr*) &remote_addr, &l))) {
 		connection *con = con_get(srv);
+		con->state = CON_STATE_REQUEST_START;
 		con->remote_addr = remote_addr;
 		ev_io_set(&con->sock.watcher, s, EV_READ);
 		ev_io_start(srv->loop, &con->sock.watcher);
@@ -295,6 +345,8 @@ void server_start(server *srv) {
 		return;
 	}
 
+	srv->keep_alive_queue_timeout = 5;
+
 	srv->option_count = g_hash_table_size(srv->options);
 	srv->option_def_values = g_slice_alloc0(srv->option_count * sizeof(*srv->option_def_values));
 
@@ -328,6 +380,12 @@ void server_stop(server *srv) {
 		server_socket *sock = g_array_index(srv->sockets, server_socket*, i);
 		ev_io_stop(srv->loop, &sock->watcher);
 	}
+
+	for (i = srv->connections_active; i-- > 0;) {
+		connection *con = g_array_index(srv->connections, connection*, i);
+		if (con->state == CON_STATE_KEEP_ALIVE)
+			con_put(srv, con);
+	}
 }
 
 void server_exit(server *srv) {
@@ -344,7 +402,6 @@ void server_exit(server *srv) {
 	log_thread_wakeup(srv);
 }
 
-
 void joblist_append(server *srv, connection *con) {
 	connection_state_machine(srv, con);
 }
diff --git a/src/server.h b/src/server.h
index 8b3944d..39d3a75 100644
--- a/src/server.h
+++ b/src/server.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ struct server {
 
 	guint loop_flags;
 	struct ev_loop *loop;
+	ev_timer keep_alive_timer;
 
 	guint connections_active; /** 0..con_act-1: active connections, con_act..used-1: free connections */
 	GArray *connections;      /** array of (connection*) */
@@ -76,6 +77,10 @@ struct server {
 
 	ev_tstamp started;
 	statistics_t stats;
+
+	/* keep alive timeout queue */
+	guint keep_alive_queue_timeout;
+	GQueue keep_alive_queue;
 };