diff --git a/manifests/config.pp b/manifests/config.pp
index f62053f6a..a88f60d75 100644
--- a/manifests/config.pp
+++ b/manifests/config.pp
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
   $init_limit              = 10,
   $sync_limit              = 5,
   $leader                  = true,
+  $max_session_timeout     = undef,
 ) {
   require zookeeper::install
 
diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index 30b89fa02..97be30bba 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@
   $packages                = ['zookeeper'],
   $repo                    = undef,
   $install_java            = false,
-  $java_package            = undef
+  $java_package            = undef,
+  $max_session_timeout     = undef,
 ) {
 
   validate_array($packages)
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@
     tracefile_threshold     => $tracefile_threshold,
     max_allowed_connections => $max_allowed_connections,
     peer_type               => $peer_type,
+    max_session_timeout     => $max_session_timeout,
   }->
   class { 'zookeeper::service':
     cfg_dir      => $cfg_dir,
diff --git a/templates/conf/zoo.cfg.erb b/templates/conf/zoo.cfg.erb
index f2f07e90a..cf7b2a7d4 100644
--- a/templates/conf/zoo.cfg.erb
+++ b/templates/conf/zoo.cfg.erb
@@ -83,3 +83,7 @@ maxClientCnxns=<%= @max_allowed_connections %>
 # Zookeeper peer type
 peerType=<%= @peer_type %>
 <% end -%>
+
+<% if @max_session_timeout -%>
+maxSessionTimeout=<%= @max_session_timeout %>
+<% end -%>