diff --git a/jetty-spdy/spdy-jetty/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/spdy/SPDYClient.java b/jetty-spdy/spdy-jetty/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/spdy/SPDYClient.java
index 1a6cb165168..0a9881fc013 100644
--- a/jetty-spdy/spdy-jetty/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/spdy/SPDYClient.java
+++ b/jetty-spdy/spdy-jetty/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/spdy/SPDYClient.java
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ public class SPDYClient
     private final short version;
     private final Factory factory;
     private SocketAddress bindAddress;
-    private long maxIdleTime;
+    private long maxIdleTime = -1;
 
     protected SPDYClient(short version, Factory factory)
     {