diff --git a/src/libnmdc/libnmdc.go b/src/libnmdc/libnmdc.go
index f6cd88d..fd94341 100644
--- a/src/libnmdc/libnmdc.go
+++ b/src/libnmdc/libnmdc.go
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	DEFAULT_CLIENT_TAG           string = "libnmdc.go"
-	DEFAULT_HUB_NAME             string = "(unknown)"
-	SEND_KEEPALIVE_EVERY_SECONDS int    = 29
+	DEFAULT_CLIENT_TAG   string        = "libnmdc.go"
+	DEFAULT_HUB_NAME     string        = "(unknown)"
+	SEND_KEEPALIVE_EVERY time.Duration = 29 * time.Second
 )
 
 type ConnectionState int
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ func (this *HubConnection) worker() {
 		// Read from socket into our local buffer (blocking)
 		if this.connValid {
 			readBuff := make([]byte, 1024)
-			this.conn.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(SEND_KEEPALIVE_EVERY_SECONDS * time.Second))
+			this.conn.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(SEND_KEEPALIVE_EVERY))
 			nbytes, err = this.conn.Read(readBuff)
 
 			if err != nil && err.(net.Error).Timeout() {