diff --git a/src/ConnectionPool.jl b/src/ConnectionPool.jl
index 15420c0fe..d32122506 100644
--- a/src/ConnectionPool.jl
+++ b/src/ConnectionPool.jl
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ Fields:
 - `host::String`
 - `port::String`, exactly as specified in the URI (i.e. may be empty).
 - `pipeline_limit`, number of requests to send before waiting for responses.
+- `idle_timeout`, No. of sconds to maintain connection after last transaction.
 - `peerport`, remote TCP port number (used for debug messages).
 - `localport`, local TCP port number (used for debug messages).
 - `io::T`, the `TCPSocket` or `SSLContext.
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ mutable struct Connection{T <: IO}
     host::String
     port::String
     pipeline_limit::Int
+    idle_timeout::Int
     peerport::UInt16
     localport::UInt16
     io::T
@@ -95,8 +97,9 @@ struct Transaction{T <: IO} <: IO
 end
 
 Connection(host::AbstractString, port::AbstractString,
-           pipeline_limit::Int, io::T) where T <: IO =
-    Connection{T}(host, port, pipeline_limit,
+           pipeline_limit::Int, idle_timeout::Int, io::T) where T <: IO =
+    Connection{T}(host, port,
+                  pipeline_limit, idle_timeout,
                   peerport(io), localport(io),
                   io, nobytes,
                   -1,
@@ -104,7 +107,7 @@ Connection(host::AbstractString, port::AbstractString,
                   0, false, Condition(),
                   0)
 
-Connection(io) = Connection("", "", default_pipeline_limit, io)
+Connection(io) = Connection("", "", 0, default_pipeline_limit, 0, io)
 
 Transaction(c::Connection{T}) where T <: IO =
     Transaction{T}(c, (c.sequence += 1))
@@ -385,7 +388,11 @@ end
 Remove closed connections from `pool`.
 """
 function purge()
-    isdeletable(c) = !isopen(c.io) && (@debug 1 "🗑  Deleted:        $c"; true)
+    isdeletable(c) = (!isopen(c.io) || (c.idle_timeout > 0 &&
+                                       !c.readbusy &&
+                                       !c.writebusy &&
+                                       time()-c.timestamp > c.idle_timeout)) &&
+                     (@debug 1 "🗑  Deleted:        $c"; true)
     deleteat!(pool, map(isdeletable, pool))
 end
 
@@ -400,6 +407,7 @@ function getconnection(::Type{Transaction{T}},
                        port::AbstractString;
                        connection_limit::Int=default_connection_limit,
                        pipeline_limit::Int=default_pipeline_limit,
+                       idle_timeout::Int=0,
                        reuse_limit::Int=nolimit,
                        kw...)::Transaction{T} where T <: IO
 
@@ -431,7 +439,9 @@ function getconnection(::Type{Transaction{T}},
             busy = findall(T, host, port, pipeline_limit)
             if length(busy) < connection_limit
                 io = getconnection(T, host, port; kw...)
-                c = Connection(host, port, pipeline_limit, io)
+                c = Connection(host, port,
+                               pipeline_limit, idle_timeout,
+                               io)
                 push!(pool, c)                ;@debug 1 "🔗  New:            $c"
                 return client_transaction(c)
             end
@@ -459,16 +469,45 @@ function keepalive!(tcp)
     return
 end
 
+struct ConnectTimeout <: Exception
+    host
+    port
+end
+
 function getconnection(::Type{TCPSocket},
                        host::AbstractString,
                        port::AbstractString;
                        keepalive::Bool=false,
+                       connect_timeout::Int=0,
                        kw...)::TCPSocket
+
     p::UInt = isempty(port) ? UInt(80) : parse(UInt, port)
+
     @debug 2 "TCP connect: $host:$p..."
-    tcp = connect(getaddrinfo(host), p)
-    keepalive && keepalive!(tcp)
-    return tcp
+
+    if connect_timeout == 0
+        tcp = connect(getaddrinfo(host), p)
+        keepalive && keepalive!(tcp)
+        return tcp
+    end
+
+    # FIXME this currently causes the Julia runtime to hang on exit...
+    result = Ref{TCPSocket}()
+    error = Ref{Any}()
+    @schedule try
+        result[] = connect(getaddrinfo(host), p)
+    catch e
+        error[] = e
+    end
+    sleep(connect_timeout)
+    if isassigned(error)
+        throw(error[])
+    end
+    if !isassigned(result)
+        throw(ConnectTimeout(host, port))
+    end
+    keepalive && keepalive!(result[])
+    return result[]
 end
 
 const nosslconfig = SSLConfig()