diff --git a/oslo_messaging/_drivers/matchmaker_redis.py b/oslo_messaging/_drivers/matchmaker_redis.py
index 4f6e6f0df..290b60351 100644
--- a/oslo_messaging/_drivers/matchmaker_redis.py
+++ b/oslo_messaging/_drivers/matchmaker_redis.py
@@ -108,7 +108,12 @@ class MatchMakerRedis(mm_common.HeartbeatMatchMakerBase):
             self.register(key, host)
 
     def is_alive(self, topic, host):
-        if self.redis.ttl(host) == -1:
+        # After redis 2.8, if the specialized key doesn't exist,
+        # TTL fuction would return -2. If key exists,
+        # but doesn't have expiration associated,
+        # TTL func would return -1. For more information,
+        # please visit http://redis.io/commands/ttl
+        if self.redis.ttl(host) == -2:
             self.expire(topic, host)
             return False
         return True
diff --git a/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_matchmaker_redis.py b/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_matchmaker_redis.py
index 097029d42..77604040c 100644
--- a/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_matchmaker_redis.py
+++ b/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_matchmaker_redis.py
@@ -87,3 +87,11 @@ class RedisMatchMakerTest(test_utils.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(
             sorted(self.matcher.redis.smembers('ack_alive')),
             ['ack_alive.controller1'])
+
+    def test_is_alive(self):
+        self.assertEqual(
+            self.matcher.is_alive('conductor', 'conductor.controller1'),
+            True)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            self.matcher.is_alive('conductor', 'conductor.controller2'),
+            False)