diff --git a/mon/mon.js b/mon/mon.js
index 3e198ad2..68b1b5d8 100644
--- a/mon/mon.js
+++ b/mon/mon.js
@@ -342,6 +342,9 @@ class Mon
         this.etcd_start_timeout = (config.etcd_start_timeout || 5) * 1000;
         this.state = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(this.constructor.etcd_tree));
         this.signals_set = false;
+        this.ws = null;
+        this.ws_alive = false;
+        this.ws_keepalive_timer = null;
         this.on_stop_cb = () => this.on_stop(0).catch(console.error);
     }
 
@@ -462,8 +465,20 @@ class Mon
 
     restart_watcher(cur_addr)
     {
+        if (this.ws)
+        {
+            this.ws.close();
+            this.ws = null;
+        }
+        if (this.ws_keepalive_timer)
+        {
+            clearInterval(this.ws_keepalive_timer);
+            this.ws_keepalive_timer = null;
+        }
         if (this.selected_etcd_url == cur_addr)
+        {
             this.selected_etcd_url = null;
+        }
         this.start_watcher(this.config.etcd_mon_retries).catch(this.die);
     }
 
@@ -483,6 +498,7 @@ class Mon
                 const timer_id = setTimeout(() =>
                 {
                     this.ws.close();
+                    this.ws = null;
                     ok(false);
                 }, this.config.etcd_mon_timeout);
                 this.ws = new WebSocket(base+'/watch');
@@ -511,6 +527,20 @@ class Mon
             this.die('Failed to open etcd watch websocket');
         }
         const cur_addr = this.selected_etcd_url;
+        this.ws_alive = true;
+        this.ws_keepalive_timer = setInterval(() =>
+        {
+            if (this.ws_alive)
+            {
+                this.ws_alive = false;
+                this.ws.send(JSON.stringify({ progress_request: {} }));
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                console.log('etcd websocket timed out, restarting it');
+                this.restart_watcher(cur_addr);
+            }
+        }, (Number(this.config.etcd_keepalive_interval) || 30)*1000);
         this.ws.on('error', () => this.restart_watcher(cur_addr));
         this.ws.send(JSON.stringify({
             create_request: {
@@ -523,6 +553,7 @@ class Mon
         }));
         this.ws.on('message', (msg) =>
         {
+            this.ws_alive = true;
             let data;
             try
             {