diff --git a/oslo/messaging/_drivers/impl_rabbit.py b/oslo/messaging/_drivers/impl_rabbit.py
index 0073a28a9..95d1ea294 100644
--- a/oslo/messaging/_drivers/impl_rabbit.py
+++ b/oslo/messaging/_drivers/impl_rabbit.py
@@ -102,10 +102,10 @@
                      'If you change this option, you must wipe the '
                      'RabbitMQ database.'),
     cfg.IntOpt('heartbeat_timeout_threshold',
-               default=60,
+               default=0,
                help="Number of seconds after which the Rabbit broker is "
                "considered down if heartbeat's keep-alive fails "
-               "(0 disable the heartbeat)."),
+               "(0 disable the heartbeat). EXPERIMENTAL"),
     cfg.IntOpt('heartbeat_rate',
                default=2,
                help='How often times during the heartbeat_timeout_threshold '
diff --git a/tests/drivers/test_impl_rabbit.py b/tests/drivers/test_impl_rabbit.py
index c43288a30..09849b945 100644
--- a/tests/drivers/test_impl_rabbit.py
+++ b/tests/drivers/test_impl_rabbit.py
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ def test_driver_load(self):
 
 class TestHeartbeat(test_utils.BaseTestCase):
 
+    def setUp(self):
+        super(TestHeartbeat, self).setUp(conf=cfg.ConfigOpts())
+        self.config(heartbeat_timeout_threshold=60,
+                    group='oslo_messaging_rabbit')
+
     @mock.patch('oslo.messaging._drivers.impl_rabbit.LOG')
     @mock.patch('kombu.connection.Connection.heartbeat_check')
     @mock.patch('oslo.messaging._drivers.impl_rabbit.Connection.'
@@ -154,7 +159,7 @@ def test_driver_load(self, connection_klass, fake_ensure):
         transport._driver._get_connection()
         connection_klass.assert_called_once_with(
             'memory:///', ssl=self.expected, login_method='AMQPLAIN',
-            heartbeat=60, failover_strategy="shuffle")
+            heartbeat=0, failover_strategy="shuffle")
 
 
 class TestRabbitIterconsume(test_utils.BaseTestCase):