diff --git a/ansible/roles/nova/defaults/main.yml b/ansible/roles/nova/defaults/main.yml
index f6ef2154a5..af08651e7e 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/nova/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/nova/defaults/main.yml
@@ -183,11 +183,15 @@ nova_services:
         mode: "http"
         external: false
         port: "{{ nova_serialproxy_port }}"
+        backend_http_extra:
+          - "timeout tunnel {{ haproxy_nova_serialconsole_proxy_tunnel_timeout }}"
       nova_serialconsole_proxy_external:
         enabled: "{{ enable_nova|bool and enable_nova_serialconsole_proxy|bool }}"
         mode: "http"
         external: true
         port: "{{ nova_serialproxy_port }}"
+        backend_http_extra:
+          - "timeout tunnel {{ haproxy_nova_serialconsole_proxy_tunnel_timeout }}"
   nova-conductor:
     container_name: "nova_conductor"
     group: "nova-conductor"
@@ -342,6 +346,11 @@ nova_conductor_dimensions: "{{ default_container_dimensions }}"
 nova_compute_dimensions: "{{ default_container_dimensions }}"
 nova_compute_ironic_dimensions: "{{ default_container_dimensions }}"
 
+####################
+# HAProxy
+####################
+haproxy_nova_serialconsole_proxy_tunnel_timeout: "10m"
+
 ####################
 # OpenStack
 ####################
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/add-option-to-configure-nova-serial-console-timeout-7cfc764a0c19eb01.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/add-option-to-configure-nova-serial-console-timeout-7cfc764a0c19eb01.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fedcc54af3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/add-option-to-configure-nova-serial-console-timeout-7cfc764a0c19eb01.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    Added an option, haproxy_nova_serialconsole_proxy_tunnel_timeout,
+    to configure the nova_serialconsole_proxy tunnel timeout. This default
+    is to keep the websocket connection alive for 10 minutes.