diff --git a/lib/util/zmqutil.js b/lib/util/zmqutil.js
index 8c5fc39c..c8e2e312 100644
--- a/lib/util/zmqutil.js
+++ b/lib/util/zmqutil.js
@@ -11,13 +11,16 @@ var log = require('./logger').createLogger('util:zmqutil')
 module.exports.socket = function() {
   var sock = zmq.socket.apply(zmq, arguments)
 
-  try {
-    sock.setsockopt(zmq.ZMQ_TCP_KEEPALIVE, 1)
-    sock.setsockopt(zmq.ZMQ_TCP_KEEPALIVE_IDLE, 300000)
-  }
-  catch (err) {
-    log.warn('ZeroMQ library too old, no support for TCP keepalive options')
-  }
+  ;['ZMQ_TCP_KEEPALIVE', 'ZMQ_TCP_KEEPALIVE_IDLE'].forEach(function(opt) {
+    if (process.env[opt]) {
+      try {
+        sock.setsockopt(zmq[opt], +process.env[opt])
+      }
+      catch (err) {
+        log.warn('ZeroMQ library too old, no support for %s', opt)
+      }
+    }
+  })
 
   return sock
 }