diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 9dd54f9b45..7d277dbc73 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ Merged from 2.0:
  * Make StreamSession#closeSession() idempotent (CASSANDRA-7262)
  * Fix infinite loop on exception while streaming (CASSANDRA-7330)
 Merged from 1.2:
+ * Enable keepalive for native protocol (CASSANDRA-7380)
  * Check internal addresses for seeds (CASSANDRA-6523)
  * Fix potential / by 0 in HHOM page size calculation (CASSANDRA-7354)
  * Use LOCAL_ONE for non-superuser auth queries (CASSANDRA-7328)
diff --git a/conf/cassandra.yaml b/conf/cassandra.yaml
index e6c34e04df..102e30466e 100644
--- a/conf/cassandra.yaml
+++ b/conf/cassandra.yaml
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ rpc_port: 9160
 # be set.
 # broadcast_rpc_address: 1.2.3.4
 
-# enable or disable keepalive on rpc connections
+# enable or disable keepalive on rpc/native connections
 rpc_keepalive: true
 
 # Cassandra provides two out-of-the-box options for the RPC Server:
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/transport/Server.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/transport/Server.java
index 2fed8895e3..d10b9344eb 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/transport/Server.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/transport/Server.java
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ public class Server implements CassandraDaemon.Server
                                     .group(workerGroup)
                                     .channel(NioServerSocketChannel.class)
                                     .childOption(ChannelOption.TCP_NODELAY, true)
+                                    .childOption(ChannelOption.SO_KEEPALIVE, DatabaseDescriptor.getRpcKeepAlive())
                                     .childOption(ChannelOption.ALLOCATOR, CBUtil.allocator)
                                     .childOption(ChannelOption.WRITE_BUFFER_HIGH_WATER_MARK, 32 * 1024)
                                     .childOption(ChannelOption.WRITE_BUFFER_LOW_WATER_MARK, 8 * 1024);