diff --git a/gateway-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/gateway/config/impl/GatewayConfigImpl.java b/gateway-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/gateway/config/impl/GatewayConfigImpl.java
index 6bc75a9..65ba8ea 100644
--- a/gateway-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/gateway/config/impl/GatewayConfigImpl.java
+++ b/gateway-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/gateway/config/impl/GatewayConfigImpl.java
@@ -639,7 +639,7 @@
 
   @Override
   public long getGatewayIdleTimeout() {
-    return getLong(GATEWAY_IDLE_TIMEOUT, 0l);
+    return getLong(GATEWAY_IDLE_TIMEOUT, 300000l);
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/gateway-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/gateway/config/impl/GatewayConfigImplTest.java b/gateway-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/gateway/config/impl/GatewayConfigImplTest.java
index 9cf7a39..24b45b1 100644
--- a/gateway-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/gateway/config/impl/GatewayConfigImplTest.java
+++ b/gateway-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/gateway/config/impl/GatewayConfigImplTest.java
@@ -191,4 +191,17 @@
     assertThat(config.getGraphitePort(), is(32772));
   }
 
+  @Test( timeout = TestUtils.SHORT_TIMEOUT )
+  public void testGatewayIdleTimeout() {
+    GatewayConfigImpl config = new GatewayConfigImpl();
+    long idleTimeout = 0l;
+    
+    idleTimeout = config.getGatewayIdleTimeout();
+    assertThat( idleTimeout, is(300000L));
+
+    config.set( GatewayConfigImpl.GATEWAY_IDLE_TIMEOUT, "15000" );
+    idleTimeout = config.getGatewayIdleTimeout();
+    assertThat( idleTimeout, is(15000L));
+  }
+
 }