diff --git a/src/conn/mod.rs b/src/conn/mod.rs
index 9188941..49b3918 100644
--- a/src/conn/mod.rs
+++ b/src/conn/mod.rs
@@ -957,9 +957,7 @@ impl Conn {
                 #[cfg(not(unix))]
                 return Err(crate::DriverError::NamedPipesDisabled.into());
             } else {
-                let keepalive = opts
-                    .tcp_keepalive()
-                    .map(|x| std::time::Duration::from_millis(x.into()));
+                let keepalive = opts.tcp_keepalive();
                 Stream::connect_tcp(opts.hostport_or_url(), keepalive).await?
             };
 
diff --git a/src/io/mod.rs b/src/io/mod.rs
index e5705a9..c9ce68b 100644
--- a/src/io/mod.rs
+++ b/src/io/mod.rs
@@ -472,13 +472,16 @@ impl stream::Stream for Stream {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
+    use std::time::Duration;
+
     #[cfg(unix)] // no sane way to retrieve current keepalive value on windows
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn should_connect_with_keepalive() {
         use crate::{test_misc::get_opts, Conn};
 
+        let duration = Duration::from_millis(42_000);
         let opts = get_opts()
-            .tcp_keepalive(Some(42_000_u32))
+            .tcp_keepalive(Some(duration))
             .prefer_socket(false);
         let mut conn: Conn = Conn::new(opts).await.unwrap();
         let stream = conn.stream_mut().unwrap();
@@ -497,10 +500,7 @@ mod test {
             socket2::Socket::from_raw_fd(raw)
         };
 
-        assert_eq!(
-            sock.keepalive_time().unwrap(),
-            std::time::Duration::from_millis(42_000),
-        );
+        assert_eq!(sock.keepalive_time().unwrap(), duration);
 
         std::mem::forget(sock);
 
diff --git a/src/opts/mod.rs b/src/opts/mod.rs
index 1923756..536ee6d 100644
--- a/src/opts/mod.rs
+++ b/src/opts/mod.rs
@@ -575,8 +575,8 @@ pub(crate) struct MysqlOpts {
     /// Database name (defaults to `None`).
     db_name: Option<String>,
 
-    /// TCP keep alive timeout in milliseconds (defaults to `None`).
-    tcp_keepalive: Option<u32>,
+    /// TCP keep alive timeout (defaults to `None`).
+    tcp_keepalive: Option<Duration>,
 
     /// Whether to enable `TCP_NODELAY` (defaults to `true`).
     ///
@@ -801,10 +801,10 @@ impl Opts {
     /// # use mysql_async::*;
     /// # fn main() -> Result<()> {
     /// let opts = Opts::from_url("mysql://localhost/db?tcp_keepalive=10000")?;
-    /// assert_eq!(opts.tcp_keepalive(), Some(10_000));
+    /// assert_eq!(opts.tcp_keepalive(), Some(std::time::Duration::from_secs(10)));
     /// # Ok(()) }
     /// ```
-    pub fn tcp_keepalive(&self) -> Option<u32> {
+    pub fn tcp_keepalive(&self) -> Option<Duration> {
         self.inner.mysql_opts.tcp_keepalive
     }
 
@@ -1353,8 +1353,8 @@ impl OptsBuilder {
     }
 
     /// Defines `tcp_keepalive` option. See [`Opts::tcp_keepalive`].
-    pub fn tcp_keepalive<T: Into<u32>>(mut self, tcp_keepalive: Option<T>) -> Self {
-        self.opts.tcp_keepalive = tcp_keepalive.map(Into::into);
+    pub fn tcp_keepalive(mut self, tcp_keepalive: Option<Duration>) -> Self {
+        self.opts.tcp_keepalive = tcp_keepalive;
         self
     }
 
@@ -1773,7 +1773,7 @@ fn mysqlopts_from_url(url: &Url) -> std::result::Result<MysqlOpts, UrlError> {
             }
         } else if key == "tcp_keepalive" {
             match u32::from_str(&value) {
-                Ok(value) => opts.tcp_keepalive = Some(value),
+                Ok(value) => opts.tcp_keepalive = Some(Duration::from_millis(value.into())),
                 _ => {
                     return Err(UrlError::InvalidParamValue {
                         param: "tcp_keepalive_ms".into(),