diff --git a/geode-membership/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/distributed/internal/membership/gms/messages/HeartbeatMessage.java b/geode-membership/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/distributed/internal/membership/gms/messages/HeartbeatMessage.java
index d1cfc83..263a9bd 100755
--- a/geode-membership/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/distributed/internal/membership/gms/messages/HeartbeatMessage.java
+++ b/geode-membership/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/distributed/internal/membership/gms/messages/HeartbeatMessage.java
@@ -72,4 +72,9 @@
       DeserializationContext context) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
     requestId = in.readInt();
   }
+
+  @Override
+  public boolean isHighPriority() {
+    return true;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/geode-membership/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/distributed/internal/membership/gms/messages/HeartbeatRequestMessage.java b/geode-membership/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/distributed/internal/membership/gms/messages/HeartbeatRequestMessage.java
index 5441074..bcdb4b1 100755
--- a/geode-membership/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/distributed/internal/membership/gms/messages/HeartbeatRequestMessage.java
+++ b/geode-membership/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/distributed/internal/membership/gms/messages/HeartbeatRequestMessage.java
@@ -83,4 +83,10 @@
     requestId = in.readInt();
     target = context.getDeserializer().readObject(in);
   }
+
+  @Override
+  public boolean isHighPriority() {
+    return true;
+  }
+
 }