diff --git a/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py b/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py
index 5f15ecc1a5b..f34db739116 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/common/ovs_lib.py
@@ -682,6 +682,13 @@ class OVSBridge(BaseOVS):
         """
         self.set_controller_field('connection_mode', connection_mode)
 
+    def set_controllers_inactivity_probe(self, interval):
+        """Set bridge controllers inactivity probe interval.
+
+        :param interval: inactivity_probe value in seconds.
+        """
+        self.set_controller_field('inactivity_probe', interval * 1000)
+
     def _set_egress_bw_limit_for_port(self, port_name, max_kbps,
                                       max_burst_kbps):
         with self.ovsdb.transaction(check_error=True) as txn:
diff --git a/neutron/conf/plugins/ml2/drivers/ovs_conf.py b/neutron/conf/plugins/ml2/drivers/ovs_conf.py
index 929890a188e..1757bb88d1d 100644
--- a/neutron/conf/plugins/ml2/drivers/ovs_conf.py
+++ b/neutron/conf/plugins/ml2/drivers/ovs_conf.py
@@ -93,6 +93,11 @@ ovs_opts = [
                help=_("Timeout in seconds to wait for a single "
                       "OpenFlow request. "
                       "Used only for 'native' driver.")),
+    cfg.IntOpt('of_inactivity_probe', default=10,
+               help=_("The inactivity_probe interval in seconds for the local "
+                      "switch connection to the controller. "
+                      "A value of 0 disables inactivity probes. "
+                      "Used only for 'native' driver.")),
 ]
 
 agent_opts = [
diff --git a/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/openflow/native/ovs_bridge.py b/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/openflow/native/ovs_bridge.py
index f639cd47f66..96a659d738a 100644
--- a/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/openflow/native/ovs_bridge.py
+++ b/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/openflow/native/ovs_bridge.py
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ class OVSAgentBridge(ofswitch.OpenFlowSwitchMixin,
         #
         # [1] https://github.com/openvswitch/ovs/blob/master/DESIGN.md
         self.set_controllers_connection_mode("out-of-band")
+        self.set_controllers_inactivity_probe(conf.OVS.of_inactivity_probe)
 
     def drop_port(self, in_port):
         self.install_drop(priority=2, in_port=in_port)
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/openflow/native/ovs_bridge_test_base.py b/neutron/tests/unit/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/openflow/native/ovs_bridge_test_base.py
index ced3df2d795..d5cef0e5a3f 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/openflow/native/ovs_bridge_test_base.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/plugins/ml2/drivers/openvswitch/agent/openflow/native/ovs_bridge_test_base.py
@@ -142,12 +142,15 @@ class OVSBridgeTestBase(ovs_test_base.OVSRyuTestBase):
 
         m_add_protocols = mock.patch.object(self.br, 'add_protocols')
         m_set_controller = mock.patch.object(self.br, 'set_controller')
+        m_set_probe = mock.patch.object(self.br,
+                                        'set_controllers_inactivity_probe')
         m_set_ccm = mock.patch.object(self.br,
                                       'set_controllers_connection_mode')
 
-        with m_set_ccm as set_ccm, m_set_controller, m_add_protocols:
-            self.br.setup_controllers(cfg)
-            set_ccm.assert_called_once_with("out-of-band")
+        with m_set_ccm as set_ccm:
+            with m_set_controller, m_add_protocols, m_set_probe:
+                self.br.setup_controllers(cfg)
+                set_ccm.assert_called_once_with("out-of-band")
 
 
 class OVSDVRProcessTestMixin(object):
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/ovs-make-inactivity-probe-configurable-39d669014d961c5c.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/ovs-make-inactivity-probe-configurable-39d669014d961c5c.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3467854f79a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/ovs-make-inactivity-probe-configurable-39d669014d961c5c.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+other:
+  - |
+    A new option ``[ovs] of_inactivity_probe`` has been added to allow
+    changing the inactivity probe interval when using the OVS ML2 agent
+    with the native OpenFlow driver. Operators can increase this if they
+    are experiencing OpenFlow timeouts. The default value is 10 seconds.