diff --git a/src/kike.c b/src/kike.c
index 1ae4cee..7f7cdb8 100644
--- a/src/kike.c
+++ b/src/kike.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ static struct config_item g_config_table[] =
 	{ "ssl_key",         NULL,              "Server SSL private key (PEM)"   },
 
 	{ "max_connections", NULL,              "Maximum client connections"     },
+	{ "ping_interval",   "180",             "Interval between PING's (sec)"  },
 	{ NULL,              NULL,              NULL                             }
 };
 
@@ -360,13 +361,10 @@ channel_free (struct channel *self)
 
 struct server_context
 {
-	struct str_map config;              ///< Server configuration
-
 	int listen_fd;                      ///< Listening socket FD
 	struct client *clients;             ///< Clients
 	SSL_CTX *ssl_ctx;                   ///< SSL context
 
-	char *server_name;                  ///< Our server name
 	struct str_map users;               ///< Maps nicknames to clients
 	struct str_map channels;            ///< Maps channel names to data
 	struct str_map handlers;            ///< Message handlers
@@ -375,6 +373,9 @@ struct server_context
 	bool quitting;                      ///< User requested quitting
 	bool polling;                       ///< The event loop is running
 
+	struct str_map config;              ///< Server configuration
+	char *server_name;                  ///< Our server name
+	unsigned ping_interval;             ///< Ping interval in seconds
 	struct str_vector motd;             ///< MOTD (none if empty)
 	nl_catd catalog;                    ///< Message catalog for server msgs
 };
@@ -1301,6 +1302,26 @@ irc_initialize_motd (struct server_context *ctx, struct error **e)
 	return true;
 }
 
+/// This function handles values that require validation before their first use,
+/// or some kind of a transformation (such as conversion to an integer) needs
+/// to be done before they can be used directly.
+static bool
+irc_parse_config (struct server_context *ctx, struct error **e)
+{
+	unsigned long ul;
+
+	const char *ping_interval = str_map_find (&ctx->config, "ping_interval");
+	hard_assert (ping_interval != NULL);  // We have a default value for this
+	if (!xstrtoul (&ul, ping_interval, 10) || ul > UINT_MAX)
+	{
+		error_set (e, "invalid configuration value for `%s': %s",
+			"ping_interval", "the number is invalid or out of range");
+		return false;
+	}
+	ctx->ping_interval = ul;
+	return true;
+}
+
 static bool
 irc_initialize_server_name (struct server_context *ctx, struct error **e)
 {
@@ -1549,6 +1570,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	 || !irc_initialize_server_name (&ctx, &e)
 	 || !irc_initialize_motd (&ctx, &e)
 	 || !irc_initialize_catalog (&ctx, &e)
+	 || !irc_parse_config (&ctx, &e)
 	 || !irc_listen (&ctx, &e))
 	{
 		print_error ("%s", e->message);