diff --git a/lib/middleware/proxy.js b/lib/middleware/proxy.js
index 4f01c3d66..dcc48eee8 100644
--- a/lib/middleware/proxy.js
+++ b/lib/middleware/proxy.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const url = require('url')
+const http = require('http')
 const httpProxy = require('http-proxy')
 const _ = require('lodash')
 
@@ -42,11 +43,13 @@ function parseProxyConfig (proxies, config) {
       port = config.port
     }
     const changeOrigin = proxyConfiguration.changeOrigin || false
+    const keepAliveAgent = new http.Agent({ keepAlive: true })
     const proxy = httpProxy.createProxyServer({
       target: { host: hostname, port, https, protocol },
       xfwd: true,
       changeOrigin: changeOrigin,
-      secure: config.proxyValidateSSL
+      secure: config.proxyValidateSSL,
+      agent: keepAliveAgent
     })
 
     ;['proxyReq', 'proxyRes'].forEach(function (name) {
diff --git a/test/unit/middleware/proxy.spec.js b/test/unit/middleware/proxy.spec.js
index 5e97e2290..98f7055b4 100644
--- a/test/unit/middleware/proxy.spec.js
+++ b/test/unit/middleware/proxy.spec.js
@@ -352,4 +352,13 @@ describe('middleware.proxy', () => {
   it('should handle empty proxy config', () => {
     expect(m.parseProxyConfig({})).to.deep.equal([])
   })
+
+  it('should use agent with keepAlive=true', () => {
+    const proxy = { '/base': 'http://localhost:8000/proxy' }
+    const parsedProxyConfig = m.parseProxyConfig(proxy, {})
+    expect(parsedProxyConfig).to.have.length(1)
+    expect(parsedProxyConfig[0].proxy.options.agent).to.containSubset({
+      keepAlive: true
+    })
+  })
 })