diff --git a/lib/client.js b/lib/client.js
index 3601787c7..517f5cc14 100644
--- a/lib/client.js
+++ b/lib/client.js
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ var Client = function (config) {
     stream: c.stream,
     ssl: this.connectionParameters.ssl,
     keepAlive: c.keepAlive || false,
+    keepAliveInitialDelayMillis: c.keepAliveInitialDelayMillis || 0,
     encoding: this.connectionParameters.client_encoding || 'utf8'
   })
   this.queryQueue = []
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ var Client = function (config) {
   this.processID = null
   this.secretKey = null
   this.ssl = this.connectionParameters.ssl || false
+  this._connectionTimeoutMillis = c.connectionTimeoutMillis || 0
 }
 
 util.inherits(Client, EventEmitter)
@@ -83,6 +85,14 @@ Client.prototype._connect = function (callback) {
   }
   this._connecting = true
 
+  var connectionTimeoutHandle
+  if (this._connectionTimeoutMillis > 0) {
+    connectionTimeoutHandle = setTimeout(() => {
+      con._ending = true
+      con.stream.destroy(new Error('timeout expired'))
+    }, this._connectionTimeoutMillis)
+  }
+
   if (this.host && this.host.indexOf('/') === 0) {
     con.connect(this.host + '/.s.PGSQL.' + this.port)
   } else {
@@ -159,6 +169,7 @@ Client.prototype._connect = function (callback) {
       return
     }
     this._connectionError = true
+    clearTimeout(connectionTimeoutHandle)
     if (callback) {
       return callback(err)
     }
@@ -196,6 +207,7 @@ Client.prototype._connect = function (callback) {
     con.removeListener('errorMessage', connectingErrorHandler)
     con.on('error', connectedErrorHandler)
     con.on('errorMessage', connectedErrorMessageHandler)
+    clearTimeout(connectionTimeoutHandle)
 
     // process possible callback argument to Client#connect
     if (callback) {
diff --git a/lib/connection-parameters.js b/lib/connection-parameters.js
index 745311ad0..f45dc50a4 100644
--- a/lib/connection-parameters.js
+++ b/lib/connection-parameters.js
@@ -66,6 +66,22 @@ var ConnectionParameters = function (config) {
   this.fallback_application_name = val('fallback_application_name', config, false)
   this.statement_timeout = val('statement_timeout', config, false)
   this.query_timeout = val('query_timeout', config, false)
+
+  if (config.connectionTimeoutMillis === undefined) {
+    this.connect_timeout = process.env.PGCONNECT_TIMEOUT || 0
+  } else {
+    this.connect_timeout = Math.floor(config.connectionTimeoutMillis / 1000)
+  }
+
+  if (config.keepAlive === false) {
+    this.keepalives = 0
+  } else if (config.keepAlive === true) {
+    this.keepalives = 1
+  }
+
+  if (typeof config.keepAliveInitialDelayMillis === 'number') {
+    this.keepalives_idle = Math.floor(config.keepAliveInitialDelayMillis / 1000)
+  }
 }
 
 // Convert arg to a string, surround in single quotes, and escape single quotes and backslashes
@@ -75,7 +91,7 @@ var quoteParamValue = function (value) {
 
 var add = function (params, config, paramName) {
   var value = config[paramName]
-  if (value) {
+  if (value !== undefined && value !== null) {
     params.push(paramName + '=' + quoteParamValue(value))
   }
 }
@@ -87,8 +103,9 @@ ConnectionParameters.prototype.getLibpqConnectionString = function (cb) {
   add(params, this, 'port')
   add(params, this, 'application_name')
   add(params, this, 'fallback_application_name')
+  add(params, this, 'connect_timeout')
 
-  var ssl = typeof this.ssl === 'object' ? this.ssl : { sslmode: this.ssl }
+  var ssl = typeof this.ssl === 'object' ? this.ssl : this.ssl ? { sslmode: this.ssl } : {}
   add(params, ssl, 'sslmode')
   add(params, ssl, 'sslca')
   add(params, ssl, 'sslkey')
diff --git a/lib/connection.js b/lib/connection.js
index 1f0af2f11..1ac2f668f 100644
--- a/lib/connection.js
+++ b/lib/connection.js
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ var Connection = function (config) {
   config = config || {}
   this.stream = config.stream || new net.Socket()
   this._keepAlive = config.keepAlive
+  this._keepAliveInitialDelayMillis = config.keepAliveInitialDelayMillis
   this.lastBuffer = false
   this.lastOffset = 0
   this.buffer = null
@@ -47,17 +48,17 @@ var Connection = function (config) {
 util.inherits(Connection, EventEmitter)
 
 Connection.prototype.connect = function (port, host) {
+  var self = this
+
   if (this.stream.readyState === 'closed') {
     this.stream.connect(port, host)
   } else if (this.stream.readyState === 'open') {
     this.emit('connect')
   }
 
-  var self = this
-
   this.stream.on('connect', function () {
     if (self._keepAlive) {
-      self.stream.setKeepAlive(true)
+      self.stream.setKeepAlive(true, self._keepAliveInitialDelayMillis)
     }
     self.emit('connect')
   })
diff --git a/lib/defaults.js b/lib/defaults.js
index 6b0a98f1b..c520eb56b 100644
--- a/lib/defaults.js
+++ b/lib/defaults.js
@@ -58,7 +58,13 @@ module.exports = {
   statement_timeout: false,
 
   // max miliseconds to wait for query to complete (client side)
-  query_timeout: false
+  query_timeout: false,
+
+  connect_timeout: 0,
+
+  keepalives: 1,
+
+  keepalives_idle: 0
 }
 
 var pgTypes = require('pg-types')
diff --git a/test/integration/client/connection-timeout-tests.js b/test/integration/client/connection-timeout-tests.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..35e418858
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/client/connection-timeout-tests.js
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+'use strict'
+const net = require('net')
+const buffers = require('../../test-buffers')
+const helper = require('./test-helper')
+
+const suite = new helper.Suite()
+
+const options = {
+  host: 'localhost',
+  port: 54321,
+  connectionTimeoutMillis: 2000,
+  user: 'not',
+  database: 'existing'
+}
+
+const serverWithConnectionTimeout = (timeout, callback) => {
+  const sockets = new Set()
+
+  const server = net.createServer(socket => {
+    sockets.add(socket)
+    socket.once('end', () => sockets.delete(socket))
+
+    socket.on('data', data => {
+      // deny request for SSL
+      if (data.length === 8) {
+        socket.write(Buffer.from('N', 'utf8'))
+      // consider all authentication requests as good
+      } else if (!data[0]) {
+        socket.write(buffers.authenticationOk())
+        // send ReadyForQuery `timeout` ms after authentication
+        setTimeout(() => socket.write(buffers.readyForQuery()), timeout).unref()
+      // respond with our canned response
+      } else {
+        socket.write(buffers.readyForQuery())
+      }
+    })
+  })
+
+  let closing = false
+  const closeServer = done => {
+    if (closing) return
+    closing = true
+
+    server.close(done)
+    for (const socket of sockets) {
+      socket.destroy()
+    }
+  }
+
+  server.listen(options.port, options.host, () => callback(closeServer))
+}
+
+suite.test('successful connection', done => {
+  serverWithConnectionTimeout(0, closeServer => {
+    const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => {
+      throw new Error('Client should have connected successfully but it did not.')
+    }, 3000)
+
+    const client = new helper.Client(options)
+    client.connect()
+      .then(() => client.end())
+      .then(() => closeServer(done))
+      .catch(err => closeServer(() => done(err)))
+      .then(() => clearTimeout(timeoutId))
+  })
+})
+
+suite.test('expired connection timeout', done => {
+  serverWithConnectionTimeout(options.connectionTimeoutMillis * 2, closeServer => {
+    const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => {
+      throw new Error('Client should have emitted an error but it did not.')
+    }, 3000)
+
+    const client = new helper.Client(options)
+    client.connect()
+      .then(() => client.end())
+      .then(() => closeServer(() => done(new Error('Connection timeout should have expired but it did not.'))))
+      .catch(err => {
+        assert(err instanceof Error)
+        assert(/timeout expired\s*/.test(err.message))
+        closeServer(done)
+      })
+      .then(() => clearTimeout(timeoutId))
+  })
+})
diff --git a/test/test-helper.js b/test/test-helper.js
index 2f39be2aa..4c14b8578 100644
--- a/test/test-helper.js
+++ b/test/test-helper.js
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ var expect = function (callback, timeout) {
     assert.ok(executed,
       'Expected execution of function to be fired within ' + timeout +
       ' milliseconds ' +
-      +' (hint: export TEST_TIMEOUT=<timeout in milliseconds>' +
+      ' (hint: export TEST_TIMEOUT=<timeout in milliseconds>' +
       ' to change timeout globally)' +
       callback.toString())
   }, timeout)
diff --git a/test/unit/client/set-keepalives.js b/test/unit/client/set-keepalives.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..55ff04f39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/client/set-keepalives.js
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+'use strict'
+const net = require('net')
+const pg = require('../../../lib/index.js')
+const helper = require('./test-helper')
+
+const suite = new helper.Suite()
+
+suite.test('setting keep alive', done => {
+  const server = net.createServer(c => {
+    c.destroy()
+    server.close()
+  })
+
+  server.listen(7777, () => {
+    const stream = new net.Socket()
+    stream.setKeepAlive = (enable, initialDelay) => {
+      assert(enable === true)
+      assert(initialDelay === 10000)
+      done()
+    }
+
+    const client = new pg.Client({
+      host: 'localhost',
+      port: 7777,
+      keepAlive: true,
+      keepAliveInitialDelayMillis: 10000,
+      stream
+    })
+
+    client.connect().catch(() => {})
+  })
+})