diff --git a/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c b/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
index c05e870b9..2d4ee623e 100644
--- a/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
+++ b/examples/nvme/perf/perf.c
@@ -220,7 +220,8 @@ static bool g_warn;
 static bool g_header_digest;
 static bool g_data_digest;
 static bool g_no_shn_notification = false;
-static uint32_t g_keep_alive_timeout_in_ms = 0;
+/* Default to 10 seconds for the keep alive value. This value is arbitrary. */
+static uint32_t g_keep_alive_timeout_in_ms = 10000;
 
 static const char *g_core_mask;
 
@@ -1871,8 +1872,7 @@ probe_cb(void *cb_ctx, const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid,
 	/* Set the header and data_digest */
 	opts->header_digest = g_header_digest;
 	opts->data_digest = g_data_digest;
-	opts->keep_alive_timeout_ms = spdk_max(opts->keep_alive_timeout_ms,
-					       g_keep_alive_timeout_in_ms);
+	opts->keep_alive_timeout_ms = g_keep_alive_timeout_in_ms;
 
 	return true;
 }