diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index d05d868..8088b3c 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -313,6 +313,7 @@ static void initialize_config_defaults (struct config_s *conf)
          */
         conf->errorpages = NULL;
         conf->stathost = safestrdup (TINYPROXY_STATHOST);
+        conf->idletimeout = MAX_IDLE_TIME;
 }
 
 int