diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/GapicSpannerRpc.java b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/GapicSpannerRpc.java
index 917a5fdb61..19f41618fe 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/GapicSpannerRpc.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/GapicSpannerRpc.java
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ private synchronized void shutdown() {
       "com.google.cloud.spanner.watchdogPeriodSeconds";
   private static final int DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 30 * 60;
   private static final int DEFAULT_PERIOD_SECONDS = 10;
+  private static final int GRPC_KEEPALIVE_SECONDS = 2 * 60;
 
   private final ManagedInstantiatingExecutorProvider executorProvider;
   private boolean rpcIsClosed;
@@ -242,6 +243,10 @@ public GapicSpannerRpc(final SpannerOptions options) {
                 .setPoolSize(options.getNumChannels())
                 .setExecutorProvider(executorProvider)
 
+                // Set a keepalive time of 120 seconds to help long running
+                // commit GRPC calls succeed
+                .setKeepAliveTime(Duration.ofSeconds(GRPC_KEEPALIVE_SECONDS))
+
                 // Then check if SpannerOptions provides an InterceptorProvider. Create a default
                 // SpannerInterceptorProvider if none is provided
                 .setInterceptorProvider(