diff --git a/examples/ping.rs b/examples/ping.rs
index c168c2a4..a8a6981b 100644
--- a/examples/ping.rs
+++ b/examples/ping.rs
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 //! and begin pinging each other.
 
 use futures::{prelude::*, future};
-use libp2p::{ identity, PeerId, ping::Ping, Swarm };
+use libp2p::{ identity, PeerId, ping::{Ping, PingConfig}, Swarm };
 use std::env;
 
 fn main() {
@@ -54,7 +54,11 @@ fn main() {
     let transport = libp2p::build_development_transport(id_keys);
 
     // Create a ping network behaviour.
-    let behaviour = Ping::default();
+    //
+    // For illustrative purposes, the ping protocol is configured to
+    // keep the connection alive, so a continuous sequence of pings
+    // can be observed.
+    let behaviour = Ping::new(PingConfig::new().with_keep_alive(true));
 
     // Create a Swarm that establishes connections through the given transport
     // and applies the ping behaviour on each connection.
diff --git a/protocols/ping/src/handler.rs b/protocols/ping/src/handler.rs
index 7dad40f9..1b816bb6 100644
--- a/protocols/ping/src/handler.rs
+++ b/protocols/ping/src/handler.rs
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ pub struct PingConfig {
     /// connection is deemed unhealthy, indicating to the `Swarm` that it
     /// should be closed.
     max_failures: NonZeroU32,
+    /// Whether the connection should generally be kept alive unless
+    /// `max_failures` occur.
+    keep_alive: bool,
 }
 
 impl PingConfig {
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@ impl PingConfig {
     ///   * [`PingConfig::with_interval`] 15s
     ///   * [`PingConfig::with_timeout`] 20s
     ///   * [`PingConfig::with_max_failures`] 1
+    ///   * [`PingConfig::with_keep_alive`] false
     ///
     /// These settings have the following effect:
     ///
@@ -61,11 +65,15 @@ impl PingConfig {
     ///     be successful.
     ///   * A single ping failure is sufficient for the connection to be subject
     ///     to being closed.
+    ///   * The connection may be closed at any time as far as the ping protocol
+    ///     is concerned, i.e. the ping protocol itself does not keep the
+    ///     connection alive.
     pub fn new() -> Self {
         Self {
             timeout: Duration::from_secs(20),
             interval: Duration::from_secs(15),
             max_failures: NonZeroU32::new(1).expect("1 != 0"),
+            keep_alive: false
         }
     }
 
@@ -87,6 +95,21 @@ impl PingConfig {
         self.max_failures = n;
         self
     }
+
+    /// Sets whether the ping protocol itself should keep the connection alive,
+    /// apart from the maximum allowed failures.
+    ///
+    /// By default, the ping protocol itself allows the connection to be closed
+    /// at any time, i.e. in the absence of ping failures the connection lifetime
+    /// is determined by other protocol handlers.
+    ///
+    /// If the maximum  number of allowed ping failures is reached, the
+    /// connection is always terminated as a result of [`PingHandler::poll`]
+    /// returning an error, regardless of the keep-alive setting.
+    pub fn with_keep_alive(mut self, b: bool) -> Self {
+        self.keep_alive = b;
+        self
+    }
 }
 
 /// The result of an inbound or outbound ping.
@@ -198,11 +221,11 @@ where
     }
 
     fn connection_keep_alive(&self) -> KeepAlive {
-        // Returning `Now` indicates that, as far as this handler is concerned,
-        // the connection may be closed. I.e. the ping handler does not keep
-        // the connection alive, it merely adds another condition (failed pings)
-        // for terminating it.
-        KeepAlive::No
+        if self.config.keep_alive {
+            KeepAlive::Yes
+        } else {
+            KeepAlive::No
+        }
     }
 
     fn poll(&mut self) -> Poll<ProtocolsHandlerEvent<protocol::Ping, (), PingResult>, Self::Error> {
diff --git a/protocols/ping/tests/ping.rs b/protocols/ping/tests/ping.rs
index 11a12d16..6d89ea0c 100644
--- a/protocols/ping/tests/ping.rs
+++ b/protocols/ping/tests/ping.rs
@@ -39,11 +39,13 @@ use tokio::runtime::Runtime;
 
 #[test]
 fn ping() {
+    let cfg = PingConfig::new().with_keep_alive(true);
+
     let (peer1_id, trans) = mk_transport();
-    let mut swarm1 = Swarm::new(trans, Ping::default(), peer1_id.clone());
+    let mut swarm1 = Swarm::new(trans, Ping::new(cfg.clone()), peer1_id.clone());
 
     let (peer2_id, trans) = mk_transport();
-    let mut swarm2 = Swarm::new(trans, Ping::default(), peer2_id.clone());
+    let mut swarm2 = Swarm::new(trans, Ping::new(cfg), peer2_id.clone());
 
     let (tx, rx) = sync_channel::<Multiaddr>(1);