diff --git a/api/src/config.js b/api/src/config.js
index 5f3e52cc8..1f00231e1 100644
--- a/api/src/config.js
+++ b/api/src/config.js
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ const env = {
     rateLimitMax: (process.env.RATELIMIT_MAX && parseInt(process.env.RATELIMIT_MAX)) || 20,
 
     durationLimit: (process.env.DURATION_LIMIT && parseInt(process.env.DURATION_LIMIT)) || 10800,
-    streamLifespan: 90,
+    streamLifespan: (process.env.TUNNEL_LIFESPAN && parseInt(process.env.TUNNEL_LIFESPAN)) || 90,
 
     processingPriority: process.platform !== 'win32'
         && process.env.PROCESSING_PRIORITY
diff --git a/docs/run-an-instance.md b/docs/run-an-instance.md
index 8144c0372..4e41c73b0 100644
--- a/docs/run-an-instance.md
+++ b/docs/run-an-instance.md
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ sudo service nscd start
 | `RATELIMIT_WINDOW`    | `60`      | `120`                   | rate limit time window in **seconds**. |
 | `RATELIMIT_MAX`       | `20`      | `30`                    | max requests per time window. requests above this amount will be blocked for the rate limit window duration. |
 | `DURATION_LIMIT`      | `10800`   | `18000`                 | max allowed video duration in **seconds**. |
+| `TUNNEL_LIFESPAN`     | `90`      | `120`                   | the duration for which tunnel info is stored in ram, **in seconds**. |
 
 \* the higher the nice value, the lower the priority. [read more here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice_(Unix)).