diff --git a/tests/rptest/scale_tests/tiered_storage_reader_stress_test.py b/tests/rptest/scale_tests/tiered_storage_reader_stress_test.py
index 423763ecb2077..e10f16bbc4a33 100644
--- a/tests/rptest/scale_tests/tiered_storage_reader_stress_test.py
+++ b/tests/rptest/scale_tests/tiered_storage_reader_stress_test.py
@@ -50,7 +50,10 @@ def __init__(self, test_context, *args, **kwargs):
             'cloud_storage_manifest_max_upload_interval_sec':
             self.manifest_upload_interval,
             'cloud_storage_max_segment_readers_per_shard':
-            self.readers_per_shard
+            self.readers_per_shard,
+            'kafka_tcp_keepalive_timeout': 1,
+            'kafka_tcp_keepalive_probe_interval_seconds': 1,
+            'kafka_tcp_keepalive_probes': 2
         }
         super().__init__(test_context,
                          *args,