diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 4d28f57..970ef1d 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -132,6 +132,29 @@
         ks_notifications_allow_requeue: true
 
 
+MySQL server has gone away
+
+MySQL uses a default `wait_timeout` of 8 hours, after which it will drop
+idle connections. This can result in 'MySQL Gone Away' exceptions. If you
+notice this, you can lower `sql_idle_timeout` to ensure that SQLAlchemy
+reconnects before MySQL can drop the connection.
+
+.. code-block:: yaml
+
+    barbican:
+      server:
+        enabled: true
+        version: ocata
+        database:
+          engine: "mysql+pymysql"
+          host: 10.0.106.20
+          port: 3306
+          name: barbican
+          user: barbican
+          password: password
+          sql_idle_timeout: 1200
+
+
 Configuring plugins
 -------------------
 
diff --git a/barbican/files/ocata/barbican.conf.Debian b/barbican/files/ocata/barbican.conf.Debian
index 54ff0be..eaf7280 100644
--- a/barbican/files/ocata/barbican.conf.Debian
+++ b/barbican/files/ocata/barbican.conf.Debian
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
 # idle connections. This can result in 'MySQL Gone Away' exceptions. If you
 # notice this, you can lower this value to ensure that SQLAlchemy reconnects
 # before MySQL can drop the connection.
-sql_idle_timeout = 3600
+sql_idle_timeout = {{ server.database.get('sql_idle_timeout', 3600) }}
 
 # Accepts a class imported from the sqlalchemy.pool module, and handles the
 # details of building the pool for you. If commented out, SQLAlchemy
diff --git a/metadata/service/server/cluster.yml b/metadata/service/server/cluster.yml
index 73a690e..9ca3660 100644
--- a/metadata/service/server/cluster.yml
+++ b/metadata/service/server/cluster.yml
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
         name: barbican
         user: barbican
         password: ${_param:mysql_barbican_password}
+        sql_idle_timeout: 1200
       identity:
         engine: keystone
         host: ${_param:cluster_vip_address}
diff --git a/metadata/service/server/single.yml b/metadata/service/server/single.yml
index 91d1b2f..d5c4cf2 100644
--- a/metadata/service/server/single.yml
+++ b/metadata/service/server/single.yml
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
         name: barbican
         user: barbican
         password: ${_param:mysql_barbican_password}
+        sql_idle_timeout: 1200
       identity:
         engine: keystone
         host: ${_param:single_address}