diff --git a/http2/transport.go b/http2/transport.go
index 46e169fe4..8b1e6fb62 100644
--- a/http2/transport.go
+++ b/http2/transport.go
@@ -108,6 +108,23 @@ type Transport struct {
 	// waiting for their turn.
 	StrictMaxConcurrentStreams bool
 
+	// PingPeriod controls how often pings are sent on idle connections to
+	// check the liveness of the connection. The connection will be closed
+	// if response is not received within PingTimeout.
+	// 0 means no periodic pings. Defaults to 0.
+	PingPeriod time.Duration
+	// PingTimeout is the timeout after which the connection will be closed
+	// if a response to Ping is not received.
+	// 0 means no periodic pings. Defaults to 0.
+	PingTimeout time.Duration
+	// ReadIdleTimeout is the timeout after which the periodic ping for
+	// connection health check will begin if no frame is received on the
+	// connection.
+	// The health check will stop once there is frame received on the
+	// connection.
+	// Defaults to 60s.
+	ReadIdleTimeout time.Duration
+
 	// t1, if non-nil, is the standard library Transport using
 	// this transport. Its settings are used (but not its
 	// RoundTrip method, etc).
@@ -140,10 +157,6 @@ func ConfigureTransport(t1 *http.Transport) error {
 
 func configureTransport(t1 *http.Transport) (*Transport, error) {
 	connPool := new(clientConnPool)
-	// TODO: figure out a way to allow user to configure pingPeriod and
-	// pingTimeout.
-	connPool.pingPeriod = 5 * time.Second
-	connPool.pingTimeout = 1 * time.Second
 	t2 := &Transport{
 		ConnPool: noDialClientConnPool{connPool},
 		t1:       t1,
@@ -244,7 +257,7 @@ type ClientConn struct {
 	wmu  sync.Mutex // held while writing; acquire AFTER mu if holding both
 	werr error      // first write error that has occurred
 
-	healthCheckCancel chan struct{}
+	healthCheckStopCh chan struct{}
 }
 
 // clientStream is the state for a single HTTP/2 stream. One of these
@@ -680,42 +693,47 @@ func (t *Transport) newClientConn(c net.Conn, singleUse bool) (*ClientConn, erro
 	return cc, nil
 }
 
-func (cc *ClientConn) healthCheck(cancel chan struct{}) {
-	// TODO: CHAO: configurable
-	pingPeriod := 15 * time.Second
+func (cc *ClientConn) healthCheck(stop chan struct{}) {
+	pingPeriod := cc.t.PingPeriod
+	pingTimeout := cc.t.PingTimeout
+	if pingPeriod == 0 || pingTimeout == 0 {
+		return
+	}
 	ticker := time.NewTicker(pingPeriod)
 	defer ticker.Stop()
 	for {
 		select {
-		case <-cancel:
+		case <-stop:
 			return
 		case <-ticker.C:
-			ctx, _ := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), p.pingTimeout)
+			ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), pingTimeout)
 			err := cc.Ping(ctx)
+			cancel()
 			if err != nil {
 				cc.closeForLostPing()
 				cc.t.connPool().MarkDead(cc)
+				return
 			}
 		}
 	}
 }
 
 func (cc *ClientConn) startHealthCheck() {
-	if cc.healthCheckCancel != nil {
+	if cc.healthCheckStopCh != nil {
 		// a health check is already running
 		return
 	}
-	cc.healthCheckCancel = make(chan struct{})
-	go cc.healthCheck(cc.healthCheckCancel)
+	cc.healthCheckStopCh = make(chan struct{})
+	go cc.healthCheck(cc.healthCheckStopCh)
 }
 
 func (cc *ClientConn) stopHealthCheck() {
-	if cc.healthCheckCancel == nil {
+	if cc.healthCheckStopCh == nil {
 		// no health check running
 		return
 	}
-	close(cc.healthCheckCancel)
-	cc.healthCheckCancel = nil
+	close(cc.healthCheckStopCh)
+	cc.healthCheckStopCh = nil
 }
 
 func (cc *ClientConn) setGoAway(f *GoAwayFrame) {
@@ -1757,25 +1775,16 @@ func (rl *clientConnReadLoop) cleanup() {
 	cc.mu.Unlock()
 }
 
-func ReadFrameAndProbablyStartOrStopPingLoop() {
-	select {
-	case <-timer:
-	// start ping loop
-	case <-read:
-		// stop ping loop
-	}
-}
-
 type frameAndError struct {
 	f   Frame
 	err error
 }
 
-func nonBlockingReadFrame(f *Framer) chan frameAndError {
-	feCh := make(chan FrameAndError)
+func nonBlockingReadFrame(fr *Framer) chan frameAndError {
+	feCh := make(chan frameAndError)
 	go func() {
 		f, err := fr.ReadFrame()
-		feCh <- frameAndError{frame: f, err: err}
+		feCh <- frameAndError{f: f, err: err}
 	}()
 	return feCh
 }
@@ -1788,15 +1797,18 @@ func (rl *clientConnReadLoop) run() error {
 	for {
 		var fe frameAndError
 		feCh := nonBlockingReadFrame(cc.fr)
-		// TODO: CHAO: make it configurable
-		readIdleTimer := time.NewTimer(15 * time.Second)
+		to := cc.t.ReadIdleTimeout
+		if to == 0 {
+			to = 60 * time.Second
+		}
+		readIdleTimer := time.NewTimer(to)
 		select {
-		case fe <- feCh:
+		case fe = <-feCh:
 			cc.stopHealthCheck()
 			readIdleTimer.Stop()
 		case <-readIdleTimer.C:
 			cc.startHealthCheck()
-			fe <- feCh
+			fe = <-feCh
 		}
 		f, err := fe.f, fe.err
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/http2/transport_test.go b/http2/transport_test.go
index de0c58272..7032a0e06 100644
--- a/http2/transport_test.go
+++ b/http2/transport_test.go
@@ -3247,11 +3247,9 @@ func TestTransportNoRaceOnRequestObjectAfterRequestComplete(t *testing.T) {
 func TestTransportCloseAfterLostPing(t *testing.T) {
 	clientDone := make(chan struct{})
 	ct := newClientTester(t)
-	connPool := new(clientConnPool)
-	connPool.pingPeriod = 1 * time.Second
-	connPool.pingTimeout = 100 * time.Millisecond
-	connPool.t = ct.tr
-	ct.tr.ConnPool = connPool
+	ct.tr.PingPeriod = 1 * time.Second
+	ct.tr.PingTimeout = 1 * time.Second
+	ct.tr.ReadIdleTimeout = 1 * time.Second
 	ct.client = func() error {
 		defer ct.cc.(*net.TCPConn).CloseWrite()
 		defer close(clientDone)
@@ -3270,6 +3268,135 @@ func TestTransportCloseAfterLostPing(t *testing.T) {
 	ct.run()
 }
 
+func TestTransportPingWhenReading(t *testing.T) {
+	testTransportPingWhenReading(t, 50*time.Millisecond, 100*time.Millisecond)
+	testTransportPingWhenReading(t, 100*time.Millisecond, 50*time.Millisecond)
+}
+
+func testTransportPingWhenReading(t *testing.T, readIdleTimeout, serverResponseInterval time.Duration) {
+	var pinged bool
+	clientBodyBytes := []byte("hello, this is client")
+	clientDone := make(chan struct{})
+	ct := newClientTester(t)
+	ct.tr.PingPeriod = 10 * time.Millisecond
+	ct.tr.PingTimeout = 10 * time.Millisecond
+	ct.tr.ReadIdleTimeout = readIdleTimeout
+	// guards the ct.fr.Write
+	var wmu sync.Mutex
+	ct.client = func() error {
+		defer ct.cc.(*net.TCPConn).CloseWrite()
+		defer close(clientDone)
+
+		req, err := http.NewRequest("PUT", "https://dummy.tld/", bytes.NewReader(clientBodyBytes))
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		res, err := ct.tr.RoundTrip(req)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("RoundTrip: %v", err)
+		}
+		defer res.Body.Close()
+		if res.StatusCode != 200 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("status code = %v; want %v", res.StatusCode, 200)
+		}
+		_, err = ioutil.ReadAll(res.Body)
+		return err
+	}
+	ct.server = func() error {
+		ct.greet()
+		var buf bytes.Buffer
+		enc := hpack.NewEncoder(&buf)
+		var dataRecv int
+		var closed bool
+		for {
+			f, err := ct.fr.ReadFrame()
+			if err != nil {
+				select {
+				case <-clientDone:
+					// If the client's done, it
+					// will have reported any
+					// errors on its side.
+					return nil
+				default:
+					return err
+				}
+			}
+			switch f := f.(type) {
+			case *WindowUpdateFrame, *SettingsFrame, *HeadersFrame:
+			case *DataFrame:
+				dataLen := len(f.Data())
+				if dataLen > 0 {
+					err := func() error {
+						wmu.Lock()
+						defer wmu.Unlock()
+						if dataRecv == 0 {
+							enc.WriteField(hpack.HeaderField{Name: ":status", Value: strconv.Itoa(200)})
+							ct.fr.WriteHeaders(HeadersFrameParam{
+								StreamID:      f.StreamID,
+								EndHeaders:    true,
+								EndStream:     false,
+								BlockFragment: buf.Bytes(),
+							})
+						}
+						if err := ct.fr.WriteWindowUpdate(0, uint32(dataLen)); err != nil {
+							return err
+						}
+						if err := ct.fr.WriteWindowUpdate(f.StreamID, uint32(dataLen)); err != nil {
+							return err
+						}
+						return nil
+					}()
+					if err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
+				}
+				dataRecv += dataLen
+
+				if !closed && dataRecv == len(clientBodyBytes) {
+					closed = true
+					go func() {
+						for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
+							wmu.Lock()
+							if err := ct.fr.WriteData(f.StreamID, false, []byte(fmt.Sprintf("hello, this is server data frame %d", i))); err != nil {
+								wmu.Unlock()
+								t.Error(err)
+								return
+							}
+							wmu.Unlock()
+							time.Sleep(serverResponseInterval)
+						}
+						wmu.Lock()
+						if err := ct.fr.WriteData(f.StreamID, true, []byte("hello, this is last server frame")); err != nil {
+							wmu.Unlock()
+							t.Error(err)
+							return
+						}
+						wmu.Unlock()
+					}()
+				}
+			case *PingFrame:
+				pinged = true
+				if serverResponseInterval > readIdleTimeout {
+					wmu.Lock()
+					if err := ct.fr.WritePing(true, f.Data); err != nil {
+						wmu.Unlock()
+						return err
+					}
+					wmu.Unlock()
+				} else {
+					return fmt.Errorf("Unexpected ping frame: %v", f)
+				}
+			default:
+				return fmt.Errorf("Unexpected client frame %v", f)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	ct.run()
+	if serverResponseInterval > readIdleTimeout && !pinged {
+		t.Errorf("expect ping")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestTransportRetryAfterGOAWAY(t *testing.T) {
 	var dialer struct {
 		sync.Mutex