diff --git a/src/aof.c b/src/aof.c
index 8f3f5d59..4a463bde 100644
--- a/src/aof.c
+++ b/src/aof.c
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ int rewriteAppendOnlyFile(char *filename) {
     FILE *fp;
     char tmpfile[256];
     int j;
-    time_t now = time(NULL);
+    long long now = mstime();
 
     /* Note that we have to use a different temp name here compared to the
      * one used by rewriteAppendOnlyFileBackground() function. */
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ int rewriteAppendOnlyFile(char *filename) {
         while((de = dictNext(di)) != NULL) {
             sds keystr;
             robj key, *o;
-            time_t expiretime;
+            long long expiretime;
 
             keystr = dictGetKey(de);
             o = dictGetVal(de);
diff --git a/src/debug.c b/src/debug.c
index 2dfe2280..376e0712 100644
--- a/src/debug.c
+++ b/src/debug.c
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ void computeDatasetDigest(unsigned char *final) {
         while((de = dictNext(di)) != NULL) {
             sds key;
             robj *keyobj, *o;
-            time_t expiretime;
+            long long expiretime;
 
             memset(digest,0,20); /* This key-val digest */
             key = dictGetKey(de);
diff --git a/src/rdb.c b/src/rdb.c
index e11f5c9c..2c0feb6d 100644
--- a/src/rdb.c
+++ b/src/rdb.c
@@ -597,7 +597,7 @@ int rdbSave(char *filename) {
     dictEntry *de;
     char tmpfile[256];
     int j;
-    time_t now = mstime();
+    long long now = mstime();
     FILE *fp;
     rio rdb;
 
diff --git a/src/redis.c b/src/redis.c
index 527b0538..a6d1b577 100644
--- a/src/redis.c
+++ b/src/redis.c
@@ -563,17 +563,17 @@ void activeExpireCycle(void) {
          * of the keys were expired. */
         do {
             long num = dictSize(db->expires);
-            time_t now = time(NULL);
+            long long now = mstime();
 
             expired = 0;
             if (num > REDIS_EXPIRELOOKUPS_PER_CRON)
                 num = REDIS_EXPIRELOOKUPS_PER_CRON;
             while (num--) {
                 dictEntry *de;
-                time_t t;
+                long long t;
 
                 if ((de = dictGetRandomKey(db->expires)) == NULL) break;
-                t = (time_t) dictGetVal(de);
+                t = dictGetSignedIntegerVal(de);
                 if (now > t) {
                     sds key = dictGetKey(de);
                     robj *keyobj = createStringObject(key,sdslen(key));
diff --git a/src/redis.h b/src/redis.h
index 0024792c..3d1e81aa 100644
--- a/src/redis.h
+++ b/src/redis.h
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 
 /* Static server configuration */
 #define REDIS_SERVERPORT        6379    /* TCP port */
-#define REDIS_MAXIDLETIME       (60*5)  /* default client timeout */
+#define REDIS_MAXIDLETIME       0       /* default client timeout: infinite */
 #define REDIS_IOBUF_LEN         (1024*16)
 #define REDIS_LOADBUF_LEN       1024
 #define REDIS_DEFAULT_DBNUM     16
diff --git a/tests/unit/expire.tcl b/tests/unit/expire.tcl
index 6130e842..b88ff821 100644
--- a/tests/unit/expire.tcl
+++ b/tests/unit/expire.tcl
@@ -127,4 +127,18 @@ start_server {tags {"expire"}} {
         set ttl [r pttl x]
         assert {$ttl > 900 && $ttl <= 1000}
     }
+
+    test {Redis should actively expire keys incrementally} {
+        r flushdb
+        r psetex key1 500 a
+        r psetex key2 500 a
+        r psetex key3 500 a
+        set size1 [r dbsize]
+        # Redis expires random keys ten times every second so we are
+        # fairly sure that all the three keys should be evicted after
+        # one second.
+        after 1000
+        set size2 [r dbsize]
+        list $size1 $size2
+    } {3 0}
 }