diff --git a/qa/rpc-tests/httpbasics.py b/qa/rpc-tests/httpbasics.py
index 85e85e7f0f..8cbf1d7f4c 100755
--- a/qa/rpc-tests/httpbasics.py
+++ b/qa/rpc-tests/httpbasics.py
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ except ImportError:
     import urlparse
 
 class HTTPBasicsTest (BitcoinTestFramework):        
+    def setup_nodes(self):
+        return start_nodes(4, self.options.tmpdir, extra_args=[['-rpckeepalive=1'], ['-rpckeepalive=0'], [], []])
+
     def run_test(self):        
         
         #################################################
@@ -71,6 +74,29 @@ class HTTPBasicsTest (BitcoinTestFramework):
         assert_equal('"error":null' in out1, True)
         assert_equal(conn.sock!=None, False) #now the connection must be closed after the response        
         
+        #node1 (2nd node) is running with disabled keep-alive option
+        urlNode1 = urlparse.urlparse(self.nodes[1].url)
+        authpair = urlNode1.username + ':' + urlNode1.password
+        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + base64.b64encode(authpair)}
+                
+        conn = httplib.HTTPConnection(urlNode1.hostname, urlNode1.port)
+        conn.connect()
+        conn.request('GET', '/', '{"method": "getbestblockhash"}', headers)
+        out1 = conn.getresponse().read();
+        assert_equal('"error":null' in out1, True)
+        assert_equal(conn.sock!=None, False) #connection must be closed because keep-alive was set to false
+        
+        #node2 (third node) is running with standard keep-alive parameters which means keep-alive is off
+        urlNode2 = urlparse.urlparse(self.nodes[2].url)
+        authpair = urlNode2.username + ':' + urlNode2.password
+        headers = {"Authorization": "Basic " + base64.b64encode(authpair)}
+                
+        conn = httplib.HTTPConnection(urlNode2.hostname, urlNode2.port)
+        conn.connect()
+        conn.request('GET', '/', '{"method": "getbestblockhash"}', headers)
+        out1 = conn.getresponse().read();
+        assert_equal('"error":null' in out1, True)
+        assert_equal(conn.sock!=None, False) #connection must be closed because bitcoind should use keep-alive by default
         
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     HTTPBasicsTest ().main ()
diff --git a/qa/rpc-tests/test_framework.py b/qa/rpc-tests/test_framework.py
index 6c4ec073c2..4c8a11b821 100755
--- a/qa/rpc-tests/test_framework.py
+++ b/qa/rpc-tests/test_framework.py
@@ -33,8 +33,11 @@ class BitcoinTestFramework(object):
         print("Initializing test directory "+self.options.tmpdir)
         initialize_chain(self.options.tmpdir)
 
+    def setup_nodes(self):
+        return start_nodes(4, self.options.tmpdir)
+
     def setup_network(self, split = False):
-        self.nodes = start_nodes(4, self.options.tmpdir)
+        self.nodes = self.setup_nodes()
 
         # Connect the nodes as a "chain".  This allows us
         # to split the network between nodes 1 and 2 to get
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index d6f1e1cb9f..f851fcbbca 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -380,6 +380,7 @@ std::string HelpMessage(HelpMessageMode mode)
     strUsage += "  -rpcport=<port>        " + strprintf(_("Listen for JSON-RPC connections on <port> (default: %u or testnet: %u)"), 8332, 18332) + "\n";
     strUsage += "  -rpcallowip=<ip>       " + _("Allow JSON-RPC connections from specified source. Valid for <ip> are a single IP (e.g. 1.2.3.4), a network/netmask (e.g. 1.2.3.4/255.255.255.0) or a network/CIDR (e.g. 1.2.3.4/24). This option can be specified multiple times") + "\n";
     strUsage += "  -rpcthreads=<n>        " + strprintf(_("Set the number of threads to service RPC calls (default: %d)"), 4) + "\n";
+    strUsage += "  -rpckeepalive          " + strprintf(_("RPC support for HTTP persistent connections (default: %d)"), 0) + "\n";
 
     strUsage += "\n" + _("RPC SSL options: (see the Bitcoin Wiki for SSL setup instructions)") + "\n";
     strUsage += "  -rpcssl                                  " + _("Use OpenSSL (https) for JSON-RPC connections") + "\n";
diff --git a/src/rpcserver.cpp b/src/rpcserver.cpp
index a070ab5bbe..9ebacdbe2e 100644
--- a/src/rpcserver.cpp
+++ b/src/rpcserver.cpp
@@ -953,7 +953,7 @@ void ServiceConnection(AcceptedConnection *conn)
         ReadHTTPMessage(conn->stream(), mapHeaders, strRequest, nProto, MAX_SIZE);
 
         // HTTP Keep-Alive is false; close connection immediately
-        if (mapHeaders["connection"] == "close")
+        if ((mapHeaders["connection"] == "close") || (!GetBoolArg("-rpckeepalive", false)))
             fRun = false;
 
         // Process via JSON-RPC API