diff --git a/pkg/cli/admin/mustgather/mustgather.go b/pkg/cli/admin/mustgather/mustgather.go
index 38c52b270b..4d733b3586 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/admin/mustgather/mustgather.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/admin/mustgather/mustgather.go
@@ -63,6 +63,14 @@ const (
 	defaultMustGatherCommand  = "/usr/bin/gather"
 	defaultVolumePercentage   = 70
 	defaultSourceDir          = "/must-gather/"
+
+	// defaultKeepAliveInterval is the default interval for client-side
+	// authenticated API probes that reset the OAuth access-token inactivity
+	// timer. Clusters with accessTokenInactivityTimeout (common in regulated
+	// environments) will revoke idle tokens; periodic probes prevent that
+	// during long-running log-follow connections that the API server does
+	// not count as activity.
+	defaultKeepAliveInterval = 30 * time.Second
 )
 
 var (
@@ -445,8 +453,9 @@ type MustGatherOptions struct {
 	Since            time.Duration
 	SinceTime        string
 
-	RsyncRshCmd string
-	clock       clock.PassiveClock
+	RsyncRshCmd       string
+	keepAliveInterval time.Duration
+	clock             clock.PassiveClock
 
 	PrinterCreated printers.ResourcePrinter
 	PrinterDeleted printers.ResourcePrinter
@@ -805,6 +814,36 @@ func (o *MustGatherOptions) Run() error {
 	return kutilerrors.NewAggregate(errs)
 }
 
+// startClientKeepAlive spawns a background goroutine that periodically makes
+// an authenticated API call to prevent the user's OAuth access token from being
+// revoked due to accessTokenInactivityTimeout. The log-follow connection held
+// by getGatherContainerLogs is a single long-lived HTTP stream that the API
+// server does not count as discrete activity, so without these probes the token
+// can expire on clusters with short inactivity windows (e.g. 5-10 minutes in
+// banking/government/PCI-DSS environments).
+//
+// The goroutine runs until ctx is cancelled.
+func (o *MustGatherOptions) startClientKeepAlive(ctx context.Context) {
+	interval := o.keepAliveInterval
+	if interval == 0 {
+		interval = defaultKeepAliveInterval
+	}
+	go func() {
+		ticker := time.NewTicker(interval)
+		defer ticker.Stop()
+		for {
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				return
+			case <-ticker.C:
+				if _, err := o.Client.Discovery().ServerVersion(); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
+					klog.V(2).Infof("keep-alive probe failed (non-fatal): %v", err)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+}
+
 // processNextWorkItem creates & processes the must-gather pod and returns error if any
 func (o *MustGatherOptions) processNextWorkItem(ctx context.Context, ns string, pod *corev1.Pod) error {
 	var err error
@@ -831,6 +870,13 @@ func (o *MustGatherOptions) processNextWorkItem(ctx context.Context, ns string,
 
 	log := o.newPodOutLogger(o.Out, pod.Name)
 
+	// Prevent the user's OAuth token from expiring due to
+	// accessTokenInactivityTimeout while we hold long-lived log-follow
+	// connections. The probes run until the gather output has been copied.
+	keepAliveCtx, stopKeepAlive := context.WithCancel(ctx)
+	defer stopKeepAlive()
+	o.startClientKeepAlive(keepAliveCtx)
+
 	// wait for gather container to be running (gather is running)
 	if err := o.waitForGatherContainerRunning(ctx, pod); err != nil {
 		log("gather did not start: %s", err)
diff --git a/pkg/cli/admin/mustgather/mustgather_test.go b/pkg/cli/admin/mustgather/mustgather_test.go
index 8fb6fdba37..99ed038d68 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/admin/mustgather/mustgather_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/admin/mustgather/mustgather_test.go
@@ -699,3 +699,55 @@ func TestNewPod(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestStartClientKeepAlive(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("makes periodic authenticated API calls", func(t *testing.T) {
+		fakeClient := fake.NewSimpleClientset()
+		o := &MustGatherOptions{
+			IOStreams:         genericiooptions.NewTestIOStreamsDiscard(),
+			Client:            fakeClient,
+			keepAliveInterval: 50 * time.Millisecond,
+		}
+
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+		defer cancel()
+
+		o.startClientKeepAlive(ctx)
+		time.Sleep(200 * time.Millisecond)
+		cancel()
+
+		actions := fakeClient.Actions()
+		var probeCalls int
+		for _, a := range actions {
+			if a.GetVerb() == "get" {
+				probeCalls++
+			}
+		}
+		if probeCalls < 2 {
+			t.Errorf("expected at least 2 keep-alive probes, got %d actions: %v", probeCalls, actions)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("stops when context is cancelled", func(t *testing.T) {
+		fakeClient := fake.NewSimpleClientset()
+		o := &MustGatherOptions{
+			IOStreams:         genericiooptions.NewTestIOStreamsDiscard(),
+			Client:            fakeClient,
+			keepAliveInterval: 50 * time.Millisecond,
+		}
+
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+		o.startClientKeepAlive(ctx)
+		time.Sleep(150 * time.Millisecond)
+		cancel()
+
+		time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
+		before := len(fakeClient.Actions())
+		time.Sleep(200 * time.Millisecond)
+		after := len(fakeClient.Actions())
+
+		if after != before {
+			t.Errorf("keep-alive goroutine continued after cancel: actions before=%d, after=%d", before, after)
+		}
+	})
+}