diff --git a/lib/bandit.ex b/lib/bandit.ex
index cf068fdd..0667ee13 100644
--- a/lib/bandit.ex
+++ b/lib/bandit.ex
@@ -66,7 +66,12 @@ defmodule Bandit do
   * `thousand_island_options`: A list of options to pass to Thousand Island. Bandit sets some
     default values in this list based on your top-level configuration; these values will be
     overridden by values appearing here. A complete list can be found at
-    `t:ThousandIsland.options/0`
+    `t:ThousandIsland.options/0`. One default worth knowing about: Bandit sets
+    `genserver_options: [hibernate_after: 15_000]`, so that a connection process which has been
+    idle for 15 seconds is hibernated, which collects and compacts its heap and so releases the
+    memory left over from its last request until the connection is next used. Pass your own
+    `hibernate_after` within `genserver_options` to change the delay, or `:infinity` to never
+    hibernate
   * `http_options`: A list of options to configure the shared aspects of Bandit's HTTP stack. A
     complete list can be found at `t:http_options/0`
   * `http_1_options`: A list of options to configure Bandit's HTTP/1 stack. A complete list can
@@ -289,6 +294,14 @@ defmodule Bandit do
                         |> Map.keys()
                         |> Enum.sort()
 
+  # How long a connection process may sit idle before it is hibernated. An idle keepalive or
+  # HTTP/2 connection otherwise holds whatever garbage its last request left (tens of KB for a
+  # small request, hundreds for a templated page) until the next request or collection;
+  # hibernating collects and compacts the heap down to a couple of KB. Fifteen seconds is long
+  # enough that a connection in active use never hibernates between requests, and short enough
+  # that a connection parked by a browser or between WebSocket heartbeats does
+  @hibernate_after 15_000
+
   @doc """
   Starts a Bandit server using the provided arguments. See `t:options/0` for specific options to
   pass to this function.
@@ -376,6 +389,13 @@ defmodule Bandit do
     |> Keyword.put(:transport_options, transport_options)
     |> Keyword.put_new(:handler_module, Bandit.DelegatingHandler)
     |> Keyword.put_new(:handler_options, handler_options)
+    |> Keyword.update(
+      :genserver_options,
+      [hibernate_after: @hibernate_after],
+      fn genserver_options ->
+        Keyword.put_new(genserver_options, :hibernate_after, @hibernate_after)
+      end
+    )
     |> ThousandIsland.start_link()
     |> case do
       {:ok, pid} ->
diff --git a/test/bandit/hibernation_test.exs b/test/bandit/hibernation_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5850d6cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/bandit/hibernation_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+defmodule HibernationTest do
+  use ExUnit.Case, async: true
+  use ServerHelpers
+
+  @hibernating {:current_function, {:erlang, :hibernate, 3}}
+
+  def call(conn, _opts) do
+    conn = fetch_query_params(conn)
+
+    if conn.query_params["websock"],
+      do: upgrade_adapter(conn, :websocket, {HibernationTest.Sock, [], []}),
+      else: send_resp(conn, 200, "OK")
+  end
+
+  defmodule Sock do
+    use NoopWebSock
+    def handle_in({data, opcode: :text}, state), do: {:push, {:text, data}, state}
+  end
+
+  defp connection_pids(context) do
+    {:ok, pids} = ThousandIsland.connection_pids(context.server_pid)
+    pids
+  end
+
+  # A short hibernate_after keeps these tests quick; the point is that nothing in the connection
+  # process's loop prevents it from hibernating once idle, and that it carries on afterwards
+  describe "idle connection processes" do
+    test "hibernate on HTTP/1 between keepalive requests, then serve the next request", context do
+      context =
+        context
+        |> http_server(thousand_island_options: [genserver_options: [hibernate_after: 100]])
+        |> Enum.into(context)
+
+      client = SimpleHTTP1Client.tcp_client(context)
+      SimpleHTTP1Client.send(client, "GET", "/", ["host: localhost"])
+      assert {:ok, "200 OK", _headers, "OK"} = SimpleHTTP1Client.recv_reply(client)
+
+      Process.sleep(300)
+      assert [pid] = connection_pids(context)
+      assert Process.info(pid, :current_function) == @hibernating
+
+      SimpleHTTP1Client.send(client, "GET", "/", ["host: localhost"])
+      assert {:ok, "200 OK", _headers, "OK"} = SimpleHTTP1Client.recv_reply(client)
+    end
+
+    test "hibernate on HTTP/2 between requests, then serve the next request", context do
+      context =
+        context
+        |> https_server(thousand_island_options: [genserver_options: [hibernate_after: 100]])
+        |> Enum.into(context)
+
+      socket = SimpleH2Client.setup_connection(context)
+      {:ok, send_ctx} = SimpleH2Client.send_simple_headers(socket, 1, :get, "/", context.port)
+      assert {:ok, 1, false, _headers, recv_ctx} = SimpleH2Client.recv_headers(socket)
+      assert {:ok, 1, true, "OK"} = SimpleH2Client.recv_body(socket)
+
+      Process.sleep(300)
+      assert [pid] = connection_pids(context)
+      assert Process.info(pid, :current_function) == @hibernating
+
+      SimpleH2Client.send_simple_headers(socket, 3, :get, "/", context.port, send_ctx)
+      assert {:ok, 3, false, _headers, _ctx} = SimpleH2Client.recv_headers(socket, recv_ctx)
+      assert {:ok, 3, true, "OK"} = SimpleH2Client.recv_body(socket)
+    end
+
+    test "hibernate on an idle WebSocket, then handle the next frame", context do
+      context =
+        context
+        |> http_server(thousand_island_options: [genserver_options: [hibernate_after: 100]])
+        |> Enum.into(context)
+
+      client = SimpleWebSocketClient.tcp_client(context)
+      SimpleWebSocketClient.http1_handshake(client, HibernationTest.Sock)
+
+      Process.sleep(300)
+      assert [pid] = connection_pids(context)
+      assert Process.info(pid, :current_function) == @hibernating
+
+      SimpleWebSocketClient.send_text_frame(client, "still here")
+      assert {:ok, "still here"} = SimpleWebSocketClient.recv_text_frame(client)
+    end
+
+    test "do not hibernate when hibernate_after is set to :infinity", context do
+      context =
+        context
+        |> http_server(thousand_island_options: [genserver_options: [hibernate_after: :infinity]])
+        |> Enum.into(context)
+
+      client = SimpleHTTP1Client.tcp_client(context)
+      SimpleHTTP1Client.send(client, "GET", "/", ["host: localhost"])
+      assert {:ok, "200 OK", _headers, "OK"} = SimpleHTTP1Client.recv_reply(client)
+
+      Process.sleep(300)
+      assert [pid] = connection_pids(context)
+      refute Process.info(pid, :current_function) == @hibernating
+    end
+
+    @tag :slow
+    test "hibernate after 15 seconds by default", context do
+      # The test helpers' 100ms read_timeout would close the connection first
+      context =
+        context
+        |> http_server(thousand_island_options: [read_timeout: 60_000])
+        |> Enum.into(context)
+
+      client = SimpleHTTP1Client.tcp_client(context)
+      SimpleHTTP1Client.send(client, "GET", "/", ["host: localhost"])
+      assert {:ok, "200 OK", _headers, "OK"} = SimpleHTTP1Client.recv_reply(client)
+
+      Process.sleep(14_000)
+      assert [pid] = connection_pids(context)
+      refute Process.info(pid, :current_function) == @hibernating
+
+      Process.sleep(4_000)
+      assert Process.info(pid, :current_function) == @hibernating
+    end
+  end
+end