diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 1e04cbd16d..2c2537c551 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 v3.4.9 (XXXX-XX-XX)
 -------------------
 
-* The keep alive timeout specified via --http.keep-alive-timeout is now being
-  honored.
-
 * Harden database creation against spurious "duplicate name" errors that
   were caused by other parallel operations lazily creating required
   system collections in the same database.
@@ -152,8 +149,8 @@ v3.4.8 (2019-09-09)
 
 * Prevent rare cases of duplicate DDL actions being executed by Maintenance.
 
-* Fixed coordinator code that was reporting rocksdb error codes, but not the associated detail
-  message.
+* Coordinator code was reporting rocksdb error codes, but not the associated detail message.
+  Corrected.
 
 * Fixed some error reporting and logging in Maintenance.
 
diff --git a/arangod/GeneralServer/HttpCommTask.cpp b/arangod/GeneralServer/HttpCommTask.cpp
index 46cd38730e..6d7b878b36 100644
--- a/arangod/GeneralServer/HttpCommTask.cpp
+++ b/arangod/GeneralServer/HttpCommTask.cpp
@@ -108,11 +108,10 @@ void HttpCommTask::addResponse(GeneralResponse& baseResponse, RequestStatistics*
 #endif
 
   finishExecution(baseResponse);
+  resetKeepAlive();
 
   // response has been queued, allow further requests
   _requestPending = false;
-  
-  resetKeepAlive();
 
   // CORS response handling
   if (!_origin.empty()) {
@@ -220,14 +219,12 @@ void HttpCommTask::addResponse(GeneralResponse& baseResponse, RequestStatistics*
 bool HttpCommTask::processRead(double startTime) {
   TRI_ASSERT(_peer->runningInThisThread());
 
+  cancelKeepAlive();
   TRI_ASSERT(_readBuffer.c_str() != nullptr);
 
   if (_requestPending) {
     return false;
   }
-  
-  // starts and extends the keep-alive timeout
-  resetKeepAlive(); // will extend the Keep-Alive timeout
 
   RequestStatistics* stat = nullptr;
   bool handleRequest = false;
@@ -600,7 +597,6 @@ bool HttpCommTask::processRead(double startTime) {
 
 void HttpCommTask::processRequest(std::unique_ptr<HttpRequest> request) {
   TRI_ASSERT(_peer->runningInThisThread());
-  cancelKeepAlive(); // timeout will be restarted
 
   {
     LOG_TOPIC(DEBUG, Logger::REQUESTS)
diff --git a/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.cpp b/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.cpp
index 5c85779faf..1e9d026798 100644
--- a/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.cpp
+++ b/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.cpp
@@ -230,36 +230,32 @@ void SocketTask::addToReadBuffer(char const* data, std::size_t len) {
 
 // does not need lock
 void SocketTask::resetKeepAlive() {
-  if (!_useKeepAliveTimer) {
-    return;
-  }
-  
-  // expires_from_now cancels pending operations
-  asio_ns::error_code err;
-  _keepAliveTimer->expires_from_now(_keepAliveTimeout, err);
-  if (err) {
-    closeStream();
-    return;
-  }
-  _keepAliveTimerActive.store(true);
-  
-  std::weak_ptr<arangodb::rest::Task> self = shared_from_this();
-  _keepAliveTimer->async_wait([self, this](const asio_ns::error_code& ec) {
-    if (!ec) {  // error will be true if timer was canceled
-      LOG_TOPIC(INFO, Logger::COMMUNICATION)
-      << "keep alive timout - closing stream!";
-      if (auto s = self.lock()) {
-        this->closeStream();
-      }
+  if (_useKeepAliveTimer) {
+    asio_ns::error_code err;
+    _keepAliveTimer->expires_from_now(_keepAliveTimeout, err);
+    if (err) {
+      closeStream();
+      return;
     }
-  });
+
+    _keepAliveTimerActive.store(true, std::memory_order_relaxed);
+    auto self = shared_from_this();
+    _keepAliveTimer->async_wait([self, this](const asio_ns::error_code& error) {
+      if (!error) {  // error will be true if timer was canceled
+        LOG_TOPIC(ERR, Logger::COMMUNICATION)
+            << "keep alive timout - closing stream!";
+        closeStream();
+      }
+    });
+  }
 }
 
 // caller must hold the _lock
 void SocketTask::cancelKeepAlive() {
-  if (_keepAliveTimerActive.exchange(false)) {
+  if (_useKeepAliveTimer && _keepAliveTimerActive.load(std::memory_order_relaxed)) {
     asio_ns::error_code err;
     _keepAliveTimer->cancel(err);
+    _keepAliveTimerActive.store(false, std::memory_order_relaxed);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.h b/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.h
index 070871d290..4b4244db6a 100644
--- a/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.h
+++ b/arangod/Scheduler/SocketTask.h
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ class SocketTask : virtual public Task {
   // caller must run in _peer->strand()
   void closeStreamNoLock();
 
-  // starts the keep alive time
+  // starts the keep alive time, no need to run on strand
   void resetKeepAlive();
 
   // cancels the keep alive timer