diff --git a/src/ocrd/cli/__init__.py b/src/ocrd/cli/__init__.py
index 70d738f083..863b9af0d7 100644
--- a/src/ocrd/cli/__init__.py
+++ b/src/ocrd/cli/__init__.py
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@
 \b
 {config.describe('OCRD_NETWORK_RABBITMQ_CLIENT_CONNECT_ATTEMPTS')}
 \b
+{config.describe('OCRD_NETWORK_RABBITMQ_HEARTBEAT')}
+\b
 {config.describe('OCRD_PROFILE_FILE')}
 \b
 {config.describe('OCRD_PROFILE', wrap_text=False)}
diff --git a/src/ocrd_network/rabbitmq_utils/connector.py b/src/ocrd_network/rabbitmq_utils/connector.py
index 893d55a219..8fbbc84ab9 100644
--- a/src/ocrd_network/rabbitmq_utils/connector.py
+++ b/src/ocrd_network/rabbitmq_utils/connector.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from typing import Any, Optional, Union
 from pika import BasicProperties, BlockingConnection, ConnectionParameters, PlainCredentials
 from pika.adapters.blocking_connection import BlockingChannel
+from ocrd_utils import config
 from .constants import (
     DEFAULT_EXCHANGER_NAME,
     DEFAULT_EXCHANGER_TYPE,
@@ -69,8 +70,7 @@ def open_blocking_connection(
                 port=port,
                 virtual_host=vhost,
                 credentials=credentials,
-                # TODO: The heartbeat should not be disabled (0)!
-                heartbeat=0
+                heartbeat=config.OCRD_NETWORK_RABBITMQ_HEARTBEAT
             ),
         )
         return blocking_connection
diff --git a/src/ocrd_utils/config.py b/src/ocrd_utils/config.py
index d2cc4efce1..f191389799 100644
--- a/src/ocrd_utils/config.py
+++ b/src/ocrd_utils/config.py
@@ -176,9 +176,19 @@ def _ocrd_download_timeout_parser(val):
         default=(True, ''))
 
 config.add("OCRD_NETWORK_RABBITMQ_CLIENT_CONNECT_ATTEMPTS",
-    description="Number of attempts for a RabbitMQ client to connect before failing.",
+           description="Number of attempts for a RabbitMQ client to connect before failing.",
+           parser=int,
+           default=(True, 3))
+
+config.add(
+    name="OCRD_NETWORK_RABBITMQ_HEARTBEAT",
+    description="""
+    Controls AMQP heartbeat timeout (in seconds) negotiation during connection tuning. An integer value always overrides the value 
+    proposed by broker. Use 0 to deactivate heartbeat.
+    """,
     parser=int,
-    default=(True, 3))
+    default=(True, 0)
+)
 
 config.add(name="OCRD_NETWORK_SOCKETS_ROOT_DIR",
            description="The root directory where all mets server related socket files are created",
diff --git a/tests/network/config.py b/tests/network/config.py
index e22cc6ce9d..611ad63821 100644
--- a/tests/network/config.py
+++ b/tests/network/config.py
@@ -89,11 +89,19 @@
 
 test_config.add(
     name="OCRD_NETWORK_RABBITMQ_CLIENT_CONNECT_ATTEMPTS",
+    description="Number of attempts for a RabbitMQ client to connect before failing",
+    parser=int,
+    default=(True, 3)
+)
+
+test_config.add(
+    name="OCRD_NETWORK_RABBITMQ_HEARTBEAT",
     description="""
-    Number of attempts for a RabbitMQ client to connect before failing
+    Controls AMQP heartbeat timeout (in seconds) negotiation during connection tuning. An integer value always overrides the value 
+    proposed by broker. Use 0 to deactivate heartbeat.
     """,
     parser=int,
-    default=(True, 3)
+    default=(True, 0)
 )
 
 test_config.add(