diff --git a/socket.c b/socket.c
index 2e3e1cc..ac17b4d 100644
--- a/socket.c
+++ b/socket.c
@@ -330,6 +330,19 @@ retry:
         fcntl(self->socket, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK);
 #endif
 
+       {
+               int optval;
+               socklen_t optlen;
+               optval=1;
+               optlen = sizeof(optval);
+
+               if(setsockopt(self->socket, SOL_SOCKET, SO_KEEPALIVE, &optval, optlen) < 0)
+               {
+                       SOCK_set_error(self, SOCKET_COULD_NOT_CONNECT, "Could not set socket to SO_KEEPALIVE.");
+                       goto cleanup;
+               }
+       }
+
        if (curadr)
        {
                struct sockaddr *in = (struct sockaddr *) &(self->sadr_area);