diff --git a/zephyr/lib/event_queue.py b/zephyr/lib/event_queue.py
index c1247d8996..2e95f97981 100644
--- a/zephyr/lib/event_queue.py
+++ b/zephyr/lib/event_queue.py
@@ -11,8 +11,10 @@ import atexit
 import sys
 import signal
 import tornado
+import random
 
 IDLE_EVENT_QUEUE_TIMEOUT_SECS = 60 * 10
+HEARTBEAT_MIN_FREQ_SECS = 50
 
 class ClientDescriptor(object):
     def __init__(self, user_profile_id, id, event_types=None, apply_markdown=True):
@@ -22,13 +24,17 @@ class ClientDescriptor(object):
         self.event_types = event_types
         self.last_connection_time = time.time()
         self.apply_markdown = apply_markdown
+        self._timeout_handle = None
+
+    def prepare_for_pickling(self):
+        self.current_handler = None
+        self._timeout_handle = None
 
     def add_event(self, event):
         if self.current_handler is not None:
             self.current_handler._request._time_restarted = time.time()
 
         self.event_queue.push(event)
-        self.check_connection()
         if self.current_handler is not None:
             try:
                 self.current_handler.humbug_finish(dict(result='success', msg='',
@@ -36,9 +42,9 @@ class ClientDescriptor(object):
                                                         queue_id=self.event_queue.id),
                                                    self.current_handler._request,
                                                    apply_markdown=self.apply_markdown)
-                return
             except socket.error:
                 pass
+            self.disconnect_handler()
 
     def accepts_event_type(self, type):
         if self.event_types is None:
@@ -46,21 +52,26 @@ class ClientDescriptor(object):
         return type in self.event_types
 
     def idle(self, now):
-        self.check_connection()
         return (self.current_handler is None
                 and now - self.last_connection_time >= IDLE_EVENT_QUEUE_TIMEOUT_SECS)
 
     def connect_handler(self, handler):
         self.current_handler = handler
         self.last_connection_time = time.time()
+        def timeout_callback():
+            self._timeout_handle = None
+            # All clients get heartbeat events
+            self.add_event(dict(type='heartbeat'))
+        ioloop = tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.instance()
+        heartbeat_time = time.time() + HEARTBEAT_MIN_FREQ_SECS + random.randint(0, 10)
+        self._timeout_handle = ioloop.add_timeout(heartbeat_time, timeout_callback)
 
     def disconnect_handler(self):
         self.current_handler = None
-
-    def check_connection(self):
-        if (self.current_handler is not None
-            and self.current_handler.request.connection.stream.closed()):
-            self.current_handler = None
+        if self._timeout_handle is not None:
+            ioloop = tornado.ioloop.IOLoop.instance()
+            ioloop.remove_timeout(self._timeout_handle)
+            self._timeout_handle = None
 
 class EventQueue(object):
     def __init__(self, id):
@@ -133,7 +144,7 @@ def dump_event_queues():
     start = time.time()
     # Remove unpickle-able attributes
     for client in clients.itervalues():
-        client.current_handler = None
+        client.prepare_for_pickling()
 
     with file(PERSISTENT_QUEUE_FILENAME, "w") as stored_queues:
         pickle.dump(clients, stored_queues)