diff --git a/lib/cfg-grammar.y b/lib/cfg-grammar.y
index 7b9716accd..332e449ff7 100644
--- a/lib/cfg-grammar.y
+++ b/lib/cfg-grammar.y
@@ -258,6 +258,7 @@ main_location_print (FILE *yyo, YYLTYPE const * const yylocp)
 %token KW_BATCH_LINES                 10087
 %token KW_BATCH_TIMEOUT               10088
 %token KW_TRIM_LARGE_MESSAGES         10089
+
 %token KW_STATS                       10400
 %token KW_FREQ                        10401
 %token KW_LEVEL                       10402
@@ -273,6 +274,7 @@ main_location_print (FILE *yyo, YYLTYPE const * const yylocp)
 %token KW_CHECK_HOSTNAME              10093
 %token KW_BAD_HOSTNAME                10094
 %token KW_LOG_LEVEL                   10095
+%token KW_IDLE_TIMEOUT                10096
 
 %token KW_KEEP_TIMESTAMP              10100
 
@@ -1507,6 +1509,7 @@ source_proto_option
             free($3);
           }
         | KW_LOG_MSG_SIZE '(' positive_integer ')'      { last_proto_server_options->max_msg_size = $3; }
+        | KW_IDLE_TIMEOUT '(' positive_integer ')'      { last_proto_server_options->idle_timeout = $3; }
         | KW_TRIM_LARGE_MESSAGES '(' yesno ')'          { last_proto_server_options->trim_large_messages = $3; }
         ;
 
diff --git a/lib/cfg-parser.c b/lib/cfg-parser.c
index 3656964704..87a6c30019 100644
--- a/lib/cfg-parser.c
+++ b/lib/cfg-parser.c
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ static CfgLexerKeyword main_keywords[] =
   { "log_iw_size",        KW_LOG_IW_SIZE },
   { "log_msg_size",       KW_LOG_MSG_SIZE },
   { "trim_large_messages", KW_TRIM_LARGE_MESSAGES },
+  { "idle_timeout",       KW_IDLE_TIMEOUT },
   { "log_prefix",         KW_LOG_PREFIX, KWS_OBSOLETE, "program_override" },
   { "program_override",   KW_PROGRAM_OVERRIDE },
   { "host_override",      KW_HOST_OVERRIDE },
diff --git a/lib/logproto/logproto-client.c b/lib/logproto/logproto-client.c
index b252e413ac..77da595954 100644
--- a/lib/logproto/logproto-client.c
+++ b/lib/logproto/logproto-client.c
@@ -67,20 +67,20 @@ log_proto_client_options_set_drop_input(LogProtoClientOptions *options, gboolean
 void
 log_proto_client_options_set_timeout(LogProtoClientOptions *options, gint timeout)
 {
-  options->timeout = timeout;
+  options->idle_timeout = timeout;
 }
 
 gint
 log_proto_client_options_get_timeout(LogProtoClientOptions *options)
 {
-  return options->timeout;
+  return options->idle_timeout;
 }
 
 void
 log_proto_client_options_defaults(LogProtoClientOptions *options)
 {
   options->drop_input = FALSE;
-  options->timeout = 0;
+  options->idle_timeout = 0;
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/lib/logproto/logproto-client.h b/lib/logproto/logproto-client.h
index ca2607793a..bf1d97ed83 100644
--- a/lib/logproto/logproto-client.h
+++ b/lib/logproto/logproto-client.h
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ typedef struct _LogProtoClient LogProtoClient;
 typedef struct _LogProtoClientOptions
 {
   gboolean drop_input;
-  gint timeout;
+  gint idle_timeout;
 } LogProtoClientOptions;
 
 typedef union _LogProtoClientOptionsStorage
@@ -126,7 +126,11 @@ log_proto_client_handshake(LogProtoClient *s, gboolean *handshake_finished)
 static inline gboolean
 log_proto_client_prepare(LogProtoClient *s, gint *fd, GIOCondition *cond, gint *timeout)
 {
-  return s->prepare(s, fd, cond, timeout);
+  gboolean result = s->prepare(s, fd, cond, timeout);
+
+  if (!result && *timeout < 0)
+    *timeout = s->options->idle_timeout;
+  return result;
 }
 
 static inline LogProtoStatus
diff --git a/lib/logproto/logproto-server.c b/lib/logproto/logproto-server.c
index 0a31c3230e..245e759e46 100644
--- a/lib/logproto/logproto-server.c
+++ b/lib/logproto/logproto-server.c
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ log_proto_server_options_defaults(LogProtoServerOptions *options)
   options->trim_large_messages = -1;
   options->init_buffer_size = -1;
   options->max_buffer_size = -1;
+  options->idle_timeout = -1;
   options->ack_tracker_factory = instant_ack_tracker_bookmarkless_factory_new();
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/logproto/logproto-server.h b/lib/logproto/logproto-server.h
index 705de49ce5..4c9ecd494c 100644
--- a/lib/logproto/logproto-server.h
+++ b/lib/logproto/logproto-server.h
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ struct _LogProtoServerOptions
   gboolean trim_large_messages;
   gint max_buffer_size;
   gint init_buffer_size;
+  gint idle_timeout;
   AckTrackerFactory *ack_tracker_factory;
 };
 
@@ -115,10 +116,14 @@ log_proto_server_set_options(LogProtoServer *self, const LogProtoServerOptions *
   self->options = options;
 }
 
-static inline gboolean
+static inline LogProtoPrepareAction
 log_proto_server_prepare(LogProtoServer *s, GIOCondition *cond, gint *timeout)
 {
-  return s->prepare(s, cond, timeout);
+  LogProtoPrepareAction result = s->prepare(s, cond, timeout);
+
+  if (result == LPPA_POLL_IO && *timeout < 0)
+    *timeout = s->options->idle_timeout;
+  return result;
 }
 
 static inline gboolean
diff --git a/lib/logproto/logproto-text-client.c b/lib/logproto/logproto-text-client.c
index 06a9c391c0..58a942669a 100644
--- a/lib/logproto/logproto-text-client.c
+++ b/lib/logproto/logproto-text-client.c
@@ -38,12 +38,7 @@ log_proto_text_client_prepare(LogProtoClient *s, gint *fd, GIOCondition *cond, g
   if (*cond == 0)
     *cond = G_IO_OUT;
 
-  const gboolean pending_write = self->partial != NULL;
-
-  if (!pending_write && s->options->timeout > 0)
-    *timeout = s->options->timeout;
-
-  return pending_write;
+  return self->partial != NULL;
 }
 
 static LogProtoStatus
diff --git a/modules/affile/logproto-file-writer.c b/modules/affile/logproto-file-writer.c
index 5662015f76..37b8568555 100644
--- a/modules/affile/logproto-file-writer.c
+++ b/modules/affile/logproto-file-writer.c
@@ -240,12 +240,7 @@ log_proto_file_writer_prepare(LogProtoClient *s, gint *fd, GIOCondition *cond, g
   /* if there's no pending I/O in the transport layer, then we want to do a write */
   if (*cond == 0)
     *cond = G_IO_OUT;
-  const gboolean pending_write = self->buf_count > 0 || self->partial;
-
-  if (!pending_write && s->options->timeout > 0)
-    *timeout = s->options->timeout;
-
-  return pending_write;
+  return self->buf_count > 0 || self->partial;
 }
 
 LogProtoClient *