diff --git a/lib/BackbeatConsumer.js b/lib/BackbeatConsumer.js
index 89a2d7440..27273a6e2 100644
--- a/lib/BackbeatConsumer.js
+++ b/lib/BackbeatConsumer.js
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ const CONCURRENCY_DEFAULT = 1;
 const CLIENT_ID = 'BackbeatConsumer';
 const { withTopicPrefix } = require('./util/topic');
 
+const MAX_POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 6000; // higher than broker's group.min.session.timeout.ms
+
 /**
  * Stats on how we are consuming Kafka
  * @typedef {Object} ConsumerStats
@@ -132,6 +134,8 @@ class BackbeatConsumer extends EventEmitter {
         this._publishOffsetsCronActive = false;
         this._consumedEventTimeout = null;
 
+        this._lastConsumed = new Date();
+
         /** @type {ConsumerStats} */
         this.consumerStats = { lag: {} };
 
@@ -179,6 +183,8 @@ class BackbeatConsumer extends EventEmitter {
             'offset_commit_cb': this._onOffsetCommit.bind(this),
             // automatically create topic
             'allow.auto.create.topics': true,
+            'max.poll.interval.ms': MAX_POLL_INTERVAL_MS,
+            'session.timeout.ms': MAX_POLL_INTERVAL_MS,
         };
         const topicParams = {};
         if (this._fromOffset !== undefined) {
@@ -250,6 +256,37 @@ class BackbeatConsumer extends EventEmitter {
                 setInterval(this._publishOffsetsCron.bind(this),
                             this._kafkaBacklogMetricsConfig.intervalS * 1000);
         }
+
+        if (!process.env.CONSUME_TO_MAINTAIN_MEMBERSHIP) {
+            this._pingInterval = null;
+            return;
+        }
+
+        this._pingInterval = setInterval(() => {
+            const lastCommitAge = new Date() - this._lastConsumed;
+
+            if (lastCommitAge >= MAX_POLL_INTERVAL_MS/2) {
+                this._consumer.getMetadata({ topic: this._topic }, (err, md) => {
+                    if (err) {
+                        return;
+                    }
+
+                    const partitions = md.topics
+                        .filter(t => t.name === this._topic)
+                        .map(t => t.partitions)
+                        .flatMap(p => p.map(pp => ({
+                            topic: this._topic,
+                            partition: pp.id,
+                        })));
+
+                    this._consumer.pause(partitions);
+                    this._consumer.consume(1, (err, data) => {
+                        console.log('CONSUME_TO_MAINTAIN_MEMBERSHIP', { err, data, partitions })
+                        this._consumer.resume(partitions);
+                    });
+                });
+            }
+        }, MAX_POLL_INTERVAL_MS/2);
     }
 
     isReady() {
@@ -389,7 +426,11 @@ class BackbeatConsumer extends EventEmitter {
                         entry.topic, entry.partition, entry.offset);
                     this._messagesConsumed++;
                     this._processingQueue.push(entry, (err, completionArgs) => {
-                        this._onEntryProcessingDone(err, entry, completionArgs);
+                        setTimeout(() => {
+                            console.log('CONSUME_TO_MAINTAIN_MEMBERSHIP adding delay')
+                            this._onEntryProcessingDone(err, entry, completionArgs);
+                            this._lastConsumed = new Date();
+                        }, MAX_POLL_INTERVAL_MS * 10);
                     });
                     // update Zenko metrics with the latest consumed
                     // message timestamp, to later allow computing
@@ -397,11 +438,12 @@ class BackbeatConsumer extends EventEmitter {
                     KafkaBacklogMetrics.onMessageConsumed(
                         entry.topic, entry.partition, this._groupId,
                         entry.timestamp / 1000);
+
                     return undefined;
                 });
             }
             if (err || entries.length === 0) {
-                this._log.debug(err ? `error, retry in 1s: ${err.message}` :
+                this._log.debug(err ? `error ${err.code} retry in 1s: ${err.message}` :
                     'no message is available yet, retry in 1s',
                     { topic: this._topic, groupId: this._groupId });
                 this._scheduleNextTryConsume();
@@ -748,6 +790,11 @@ class BackbeatConsumer extends EventEmitter {
             return setTimeout(() => this.close(cb), 1000);
         }
         this._circuitBreaker.stop();
+
+        if (this._pingInterval) {
+            clearInterval(this._pingInterval);
+        }
+
         return async.series([
             next => {
                 if (this._consumer) {