diff --git a/artemis-protocols/artemis-openwire-protocol/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/protocol/openwire/OpenWireConnection.java b/artemis-protocols/artemis-openwire-protocol/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/protocol/openwire/OpenWireConnection.java
index fc1438201c..30ffb06356 100644
--- a/artemis-protocols/artemis-openwire-protocol/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/protocol/openwire/OpenWireConnection.java
+++ b/artemis-protocols/artemis-openwire-protocol/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/protocol/openwire/OpenWireConnection.java
@@ -201,11 +201,12 @@ public class OpenWireConnection implements RemotingConnection, CommandVisitor {
          // the connection handles pings, negotiations directly.
          // and delegate all other commands to manager.
          if (command.getClass() == KeepAliveInfo.class) {
+            dataReceived = true;
             KeepAliveInfo info = (KeepAliveInfo) command;
-            if (info.isResponseRequired()) {
-               info.setResponseRequired(false);
-               protocolManager.sendReply(this, info);
-            }
+            info.setResponseRequired(false);
+            // if we don't respond to KeepAlive commands then the client will think the server is dead and timeout
+            // for some reason KeepAliveInfo.isResponseRequired() is always false
+            protocolManager.sendReply(this, info);
          }
          else if (command.getClass() == WireFormatInfo.class) {
             // amq here starts a read/write monitor thread (detect ttl?)
diff --git a/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/cluster/failover/FailoverTest.java b/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/cluster/failover/FailoverTest.java
index f46019ccb2..9801a83da8 100644
--- a/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/cluster/failover/FailoverTest.java
+++ b/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/cluster/failover/FailoverTest.java
@@ -1941,7 +1941,6 @@ public class FailoverTest extends FailoverTestBase {
    public void testBackupServerNotRemoved() throws Exception {
       // HORNETQ-720 Disabling test for replicating backups.
       if (!(backupServer.getServer().getHAPolicy() instanceof SharedStoreSlavePolicy)) {
-         waitForComponent(backupServer, 1);
          return;
       }
       locator.setFailoverOnInitialConnection(true);
diff --git a/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/cluster/failover/ReplicatedLargeMessageWithDelayFailoverTest.java b/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/cluster/failover/ReplicatedLargeMessageWithDelayFailoverTest.java
index 6ff5d6bba8..bf7148fd4e 100644
--- a/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/cluster/failover/ReplicatedLargeMessageWithDelayFailoverTest.java
+++ b/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/cluster/failover/ReplicatedLargeMessageWithDelayFailoverTest.java
@@ -34,7 +34,13 @@ public class ReplicatedLargeMessageWithDelayFailoverTest extends ReplicatedLarge
       startBackupServer = false;
       super.setUp();
       syncDelay = new BackupSyncDelay(backupServer, liveServer);
-      backupServer.start();
+
+      /* Using getName() here is a bit of a hack, but if the backup is started for this test then the test will fail
+       * intermittently due to an InterruptedException.
+       */
+      if (!getName().equals("testBackupServerNotRemoved")) {
+         backupServer.start();
+      }
    }
 
    @Override
diff --git a/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/openwire/SimpleOpenWireTest.java b/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/openwire/SimpleOpenWireTest.java
index faa947e155..c41d30b51d 100644
--- a/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/openwire/SimpleOpenWireTest.java
+++ b/tests/integration-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/integration/openwire/SimpleOpenWireTest.java
@@ -87,6 +87,16 @@ public class SimpleOpenWireTest extends BasicOpenWireTest {
       session.close();
    }
 
+
+   @Test
+   public void testKeepAlive() throws Exception {
+      connection.start();
+
+      Thread.sleep(125000);
+
+      connection.createSession(false, 1);
+   }
+
    @Test
    public void testSimpleTopic() throws Exception {
       connection.start();