diff --git a/servers/slapd/back-asyncmeta/config.c b/servers/slapd/back-asyncmeta/config.c
index 69f134b2be..e4cc5eab72 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/back-asyncmeta/config.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/back-asyncmeta/config.c
@@ -2498,9 +2498,11 @@ asyncmeta_back_cf_gen( ConfigArgs *c )
 		break;
 #endif /* SLAPD_META_CLIENT_PR */
 
-	case LDAP_BACK_CFG_KEEPALIVE:
-		slap_keepalive_parse( ber_bvstrdup(c->argv[1]),
-				 &mt->mt_tls.sb_keepalive, 0, 0, 0);
+	case LDAP_BACK_CFG_KEEPALIVE: {
+		struct berval bv;
+		ber_str2bv( c->argv[1], 0, 1, &bv );
+		slap_keepalive_parse( &bv, &mt->mt_tls.sb_keepalive, 0, 0, 0 );
+		}
 		break;
 
 	case LDAP_BACK_CFG_TCP_USER_TIMEOUT:
diff --git a/servers/slapd/back-ldap/config.c b/servers/slapd/back-ldap/config.c
index 07fe8e9f19..fb97e8ea32 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/back-ldap/config.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/back-ldap/config.c
@@ -2051,9 +2051,11 @@ done_url:;
 		}
 		break;
 
-	case LDAP_BACK_CFG_KEEPALIVE:
-		slap_keepalive_parse( ber_bvstrdup(c->argv[1]),
-				 &li->li_tls.sb_keepalive, 0, 0, 0);
+	case LDAP_BACK_CFG_KEEPALIVE: {
+		struct berval bv;
+		ber_str2bv( c->argv[1], 0, 1, &bv );
+		slap_keepalive_parse( &bv, &li->li_tls.sb_keepalive, 0, 0, 0 );
+		}
 		break;
 
 	case LDAP_BACK_CFG_TCP_USER_TIMEOUT:
diff --git a/servers/slapd/back-meta/config.c b/servers/slapd/back-meta/config.c
index 0f876e77fe..c38dce1cfa 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/back-meta/config.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/back-meta/config.c
@@ -2913,9 +2913,11 @@ map_fail:;
 		break;
 #endif /* SLAPD_META_CLIENT_PR */
 
-	case LDAP_BACK_CFG_KEEPALIVE:
-		slap_keepalive_parse( ber_bvstrdup(c->argv[1]),
-				 &mt->mt_tls.sb_keepalive, 0, 0, 0);
+	case LDAP_BACK_CFG_KEEPALIVE: {
+		struct berval bv;
+		ber_str2bv( c->argv[ 1 ], 0, 1, &bv );
+		slap_keepalive_parse( &bv, &mt->mt_tls.sb_keepalive, 0, 0, 0 );
+		}
 		break;
 
 	case LDAP_BACK_CFG_TCP_USER_TIMEOUT: