diff --git a/daemon/discovery.go b/daemon/discovery.go
index 5a586c7f51..ef9307de0a 100644
--- a/daemon/discovery.go
+++ b/daemon/discovery.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package daemon
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
 	log "github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -13,22 +15,63 @@ import (
 const (
 	// defaultDiscoveryHeartbeat is the default value for discovery heartbeat interval.
 	defaultDiscoveryHeartbeat = 20 * time.Second
-
-	// defaultDiscoveryTTL is the default TTL interface for discovery.
-	defaultDiscoveryTTL = 60 * time.Second
+	// defaultDiscoveryTTLFactor is the default TTL factor for discovery
+	defaultDiscoveryTTLFactor = 3
 )
 
+func discoveryOpts(clusterOpts map[string]string) (time.Duration, time.Duration, error) {
+	var (
+		heartbeat = defaultDiscoveryHeartbeat
+		ttl       = defaultDiscoveryTTLFactor * defaultDiscoveryHeartbeat
+	)
+
+	if hb, ok := clusterOpts["discovery.heartbeat"]; ok {
+		h, err := strconv.Atoi(hb)
+		if err != nil {
+			return time.Duration(0), time.Duration(0), err
+		}
+		heartbeat = time.Duration(h) * time.Second
+		ttl = defaultDiscoveryTTLFactor * heartbeat
+	}
+
+	if tstr, ok := clusterOpts["discovery.ttl"]; ok {
+		t, err := strconv.Atoi(tstr)
+		if err != nil {
+			return time.Duration(0), time.Duration(0), err
+		}
+		ttl = time.Duration(t) * time.Second
+
+		if _, ok := clusterOpts["discovery.heartbeat"]; !ok {
+			h := int(t / defaultDiscoveryTTLFactor)
+			heartbeat = time.Duration(h) * time.Second
+		}
+
+		if ttl <= heartbeat {
+			return time.Duration(0), time.Duration(0),
+				fmt.Errorf("discovery.ttl timer must be greater than discovery.heartbeat")
+		}
+	}
+
+	return heartbeat, ttl, nil
+}
+
 // initDiscovery initialized the nodes discovery subsystem by connecting to the specified backend
 // and start a registration loop to advertise the current node under the specified address.
 func initDiscovery(backend, address string, clusterOpts map[string]string) (discovery.Backend, error) {
-	discoveryBackend, err := discovery.New(backend, defaultDiscoveryHeartbeat, defaultDiscoveryTTL, clusterOpts)
+
+	heartbeat, ttl, err := discoveryOpts(clusterOpts)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	discoveryBackend, err := discovery.New(backend, heartbeat, ttl, clusterOpts)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	// We call Register() on the discovery backend in a loop for the whole lifetime of the daemon,
 	// but we never actually Watch() for nodes appearing and disappearing for the moment.
-	go registrationLoop(discoveryBackend, address)
+	go registrationLoop(discoveryBackend, address, heartbeat)
 	return discoveryBackend, nil
 }
 
@@ -41,9 +84,9 @@ func registerAddr(backend discovery.Backend, addr string) {
 // registrationLoop registers the current node against the discovery backend using the specified
 // address. The function never returns, as registration against the backend comes with a TTL and
 // requires regular heartbeats.
-func registrationLoop(discoveryBackend discovery.Backend, address string) {
+func registrationLoop(discoveryBackend discovery.Backend, address string, heartbeat time.Duration) {
 	registerAddr(discoveryBackend, address)
-	for range time.Tick(defaultDiscoveryHeartbeat) {
+	for range time.Tick(heartbeat) {
 		registerAddr(discoveryBackend, address)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/daemon/discovery_test.go b/daemon/discovery_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e65aecb8c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/daemon/discovery_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+package daemon
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestDiscoveryOpts(t *testing.T) {
+	clusterOpts := map[string]string{"discovery.heartbeat": "10", "discovery.ttl": "5"}
+	heartbeat, ttl, err := discoveryOpts(clusterOpts)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("discovery.ttl < discovery.heartbeat must fail")
+	}
+
+	clusterOpts = map[string]string{"discovery.heartbeat": "10", "discovery.ttl": "10"}
+	heartbeat, ttl, err = discoveryOpts(clusterOpts)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("discovery.ttl == discovery.heartbeat must fail")
+	}
+
+	clusterOpts = map[string]string{"discovery.heartbeat": "invalid"}
+	heartbeat, ttl, err = discoveryOpts(clusterOpts)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("invalid discovery.heartbeat must fail")
+	}
+
+	clusterOpts = map[string]string{"discovery.ttl": "invalid"}
+	heartbeat, ttl, err = discoveryOpts(clusterOpts)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("invalid discovery.ttl must fail")
+	}
+
+	clusterOpts = map[string]string{"discovery.heartbeat": "10", "discovery.ttl": "20"}
+	heartbeat, ttl, err = discoveryOpts(clusterOpts)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if heartbeat != 10*time.Second {
+		t.Fatalf("Heatbeat - Expected : %v, Actual : %v", 10*time.Second, heartbeat)
+	}
+
+	if ttl != 20*time.Second {
+		t.Fatalf("TTL - Expected : %v, Actual : %v", 20*time.Second, ttl)
+	}
+
+	clusterOpts = map[string]string{"discovery.heartbeat": "10"}
+	heartbeat, ttl, err = discoveryOpts(clusterOpts)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if heartbeat != 10*time.Second {
+		t.Fatalf("Heatbeat - Expected : %v, Actual : %v", 10*time.Second, heartbeat)
+	}
+
+	expected := 10 * defaultDiscoveryTTLFactor * time.Second
+	if ttl != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("TTL - Expected : %v, Actual : %v", expected, ttl)
+	}
+
+	clusterOpts = map[string]string{"discovery.ttl": "30"}
+	heartbeat, ttl, err = discoveryOpts(clusterOpts)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if ttl != 30*time.Second {
+		t.Fatalf("TTL - Expected : %v, Actual : %v", 30*time.Second, ttl)
+	}
+
+	expected = 30 * time.Second / defaultDiscoveryTTLFactor
+	if heartbeat != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("Heatbeat - Expected : %v, Actual : %v", expected, heartbeat)
+	}
+
+	clusterOpts = map[string]string{}
+	heartbeat, ttl, err = discoveryOpts(clusterOpts)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	if heartbeat != defaultDiscoveryHeartbeat {
+		t.Fatalf("Heatbeat - Expected : %v, Actual : %v", defaultDiscoveryHeartbeat, heartbeat)
+	}
+
+	expected = defaultDiscoveryHeartbeat * defaultDiscoveryTTLFactor
+	if ttl != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("TTL - Expected : %v, Actual : %v", expected, ttl)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/docs/reference/commandline/daemon.md b/docs/reference/commandline/daemon.md
index 4b27e695e5..beb012f57c 100644
--- a/docs/reference/commandline/daemon.md
+++ b/docs/reference/commandline/daemon.md
@@ -565,6 +565,18 @@ docker daemon \
 
 The currently supported cluster store options are:
 
+*  `discovery.heartbeat`
+
+    Specifies the heartbeat timer in seconds which is used by the daemon as a
+    keepalive mechanism to make sure discovery module treats the node as alive
+    in the cluster. If not configured, the default value is 20 seconds.
+
+*  `discovery.ttl`
+
+    Specifies the ttl (time-to-live) in seconds which is used by the discovery
+    module to timeout a node if a valid heartbeat is not received within the
+    configured ttl value. If not configured, the default value is 60 seconds.
+
 *  `kv.cacertfile`
 
     Specifies the path to a local file with PEM encoded CA certificates to trust