diff --git a/components/esp_websocket_client/esp_websocket_client.c b/components/esp_websocket_client/esp_websocket_client.c
index 0e959971f..083101d6e 100644
--- a/components/esp_websocket_client/esp_websocket_client.c
+++ b/components/esp_websocket_client/esp_websocket_client.c
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ typedef struct {
     char                        *subprotocol;
     char                        *user_agent;
     char                        *headers;
+    int                         pingpong_timeout_sec;
 } websocket_config_storage_t;
 
 typedef enum {
@@ -84,9 +85,11 @@ struct esp_websocket_client {
     uint64_t                    keepalive_tick_ms;
     uint64_t                    reconnect_tick_ms;
     uint64_t                    ping_tick_ms;
+    uint64_t                    pingpong_tick_ms;
     int                         wait_timeout_ms;
     int                         auto_reconnect;
     bool                        run;
+    bool                        wait_for_pong_resp;
     EventGroupHandle_t          status_bits;
     xSemaphoreHandle            lock;
     char                        *rx_buffer;
@@ -206,6 +209,7 @@ static esp_err_t esp_websocket_client_set_config(esp_websocket_client_handle_t c
         cfg->auto_reconnect = false;
     }
 
+    cfg->pingpong_timeout_sec = config->pingpong_timeout_sec;
 
     return ESP_OK;
 }
@@ -474,6 +478,9 @@ static esp_err_t esp_websocket_client_recv(esp_websocket_client_handle_t client)
         esp_transport_ws_send_raw(client->transport, WS_TRANSPORT_OPCODES_PONG | WS_TRANSPORT_OPCODES_FIN, data, client->payload_len,
                                   client->config->network_timeout_ms);
     }
+    else if (client->last_opcode == WS_TRANSPORT_OPCODES_PONG) {
+        client->wait_for_pong_resp = false;
+    }
 
     return ESP_OK;
 }
@@ -522,6 +529,7 @@ static void esp_websocket_client_task(void *pv)
                 ESP_LOGD(TAG, "Transport connected to %s://%s:%d", client->config->scheme, client->config->host, client->config->port);
 
                 client->state = WEBSOCKET_STATE_CONNECTED;
+                client->wait_for_pong_resp = false;
                 esp_websocket_client_dispatch_event(client, WEBSOCKET_EVENT_CONNECTED, NULL, 0);
 
                 break;
@@ -530,7 +538,19 @@ static void esp_websocket_client_task(void *pv)
                     client->ping_tick_ms = _tick_get_ms();
                     ESP_LOGD(TAG, "Sending PING...");
                     esp_transport_ws_send_raw(client->transport, WS_TRANSPORT_OPCODES_PING | WS_TRANSPORT_OPCODES_FIN, NULL, 0, client->config->network_timeout_ms);
+                    if (!client->wait_for_pong_resp && client->config->pingpong_timeout_sec) {
+                        client->pingpong_tick_ms = _tick_get_ms();
+                        client->wait_for_pong_resp = true;
+                    }
                 }
+                if ( _tick_get_ms() - client->pingpong_tick_ms > client->config->pingpong_timeout_sec*1000 ) {
+                    if (client->wait_for_pong_resp) {
+                        ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error, no PONG received for more than %d seconds after PING", client->config->pingpong_timeout_sec);
+                        esp_websocket_client_abort_connection(client);
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+
                 if (read_select == 0) {
                     ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Read poll timeout: skipping esp_transport_read()...");
                     break;
diff --git a/components/esp_websocket_client/include/esp_websocket_client.h b/components/esp_websocket_client/include/esp_websocket_client.h
index ae8cc8a4b..db521c2d0 100644
--- a/components/esp_websocket_client/include/esp_websocket_client.h
+++ b/components/esp_websocket_client/include/esp_websocket_client.h
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ typedef struct {
     char                        *subprotocol;               /*!< Websocket subprotocol */
     char                        *user_agent;                /*!< Websocket user-agent */
     char                        *headers;                   /*!< Websocket additional headers */
+    int                         pingpong_timeout_sec;       /*!< Period before connection is aborted due to no PONGs received, disabled if value is 0 */
 } esp_websocket_client_config_t;
 
 /**
@@ -185,7 +186,7 @@ int esp_websocket_client_send_bin(esp_websocket_client_handle_t client, const ch
 int esp_websocket_client_send_text(esp_websocket_client_handle_t client, const char *data, int len, TickType_t timeout);
 
 /**
- * @brief      Check the WebSocket connection status
+ * @brief      Check the WebSocket client connection state
  *
  * @param[in]  client  The client handle
  *