diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index 7bb52dc8..dd1f3105 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -116,6 +116,16 @@
 #   (Optional) Backoff between reconnection attempts for rabbit.
 #   Defaults to $::os_service_default.
 #
+# [*rabbit_heartbeat_in_pthread*]
+#   (Optional) EXPERIMENTAL: Run the health check heartbeat thread
+#   through a native python thread. By default if this
+#   option isn't provided the  health check heartbeat will
+#   inherit the execution model from the parent process. By
+#   example if the parent process have monkey patched the
+#   stdlib by using eventlet/greenlet then the heartbeat
+#   will be run through a green thread.
+#   Defaults to $::os_service_default
+#
 #  [*kombu_ssl_version*]
 #    (optional) SSL version to use (valid only if SSL enabled).
 #    Valid values are TLSv1, SSLv23 and SSLv3. SSLv2 may be
@@ -277,6 +287,7 @@ class sahara(
   $rabbit_login_method         = $::os_service_default,
   $rabbit_retry_interval       = $::os_service_default,
   $rabbit_retry_backoff        = $::os_service_default,
+  $rabbit_heartbeat_in_pthread = $::os_service_default,
   $kombu_ssl_version           = $::os_service_default,
   $kombu_ssl_keyfile           = $::os_service_default,
   $kombu_ssl_certfile          = $::os_service_default,
@@ -354,6 +365,7 @@ class sahara(
     rabbit_login_method     => $rabbit_login_method,
     rabbit_retry_interval   => $rabbit_retry_interval,
     rabbit_retry_backoff    => $rabbit_retry_backoff,
+    heartbeat_in_pthread    => $rabbit_heartbeat_in_pthread,
   }
 
   oslo::messaging::amqp { 'sahara_config':
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/rabbitmq-heartbeat-over-pthread-92b1a2b083a55f71.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/rabbitmq-heartbeat-over-pthread-92b1a2b083a55f71.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..496d2279
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/rabbitmq-heartbeat-over-pthread-92b1a2b083a55f71.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+features:
+  - |
+    Allow users to run the RabbitMQ heartbeat over a native python thread in the
+    oslo.messaging RabbitMQ driver, by using the `rabbit_heartbeat_in_pthread`
+    option in configuration.
diff --git a/spec/classes/sahara_init_spec.rb b/spec/classes/sahara_init_spec.rb
index ff1b80e7..59d769ce 100644
--- a/spec/classes/sahara_init_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/sahara_init_spec.rb
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ describe 'sahara' do
       it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('oslo_messaging_rabbit/kombu_reconnect_delay').with_value('<SERVICE DEFAULT>') }
       it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('oslo_messaging_rabbit/kombu_compression').with_value('<SERVICE DEFAULT>') }
       it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('oslo_messaging_rabbit/kombu_failover_strategy').with_value('<SERVICE DEFAULT>') }
+      it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('oslo_messaging_rabbit/heartbeat_in_pthread').with_value('<SERVICE DEFAULT>') }
       it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('DEFAULT/transport_url').with_value('<SERVICE DEFAULT>') }
       it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('DEFAULT/control_exchange').with_value('<SERVICE DEFAULT>') }
       it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('DEFAULT/rpc_response_timeout').with_value('<SERVICE DEFAULT>') }
@@ -73,16 +74,18 @@ describe 'sahara' do
     context 'when passing params' do
       before do
         params.merge!({
-          :rabbit_ha_queues           => 'true',
-          :amqp_durable_queues        => 'true',
-          :kombu_reconnect_delay      => '1.0',
-          :kombu_compression          => 'gzip',
-          :kombu_failover_strategy    => 'round-robin',
+          :rabbit_ha_queues            => 'true',
+          :amqp_durable_queues         => 'true',
+          :rabbit_heartbeat_in_pthread => 'true',
+          :kombu_reconnect_delay       => '1.0',
+          :kombu_compression           => 'gzip',
+          :kombu_failover_strategy     => 'round-robin',
         })
       end
 
       it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('oslo_messaging_rabbit/rabbit_ha_queues').with_value('true') }
       it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('oslo_messaging_rabbit/amqp_durable_queues').with_value('true') }
+      it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('oslo_messaging_rabbit/heartbeat_in_pthread').with_value('true') }
       it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('oslo_messaging_rabbit/kombu_reconnect_delay').with_value('1.0') }
       it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('oslo_messaging_rabbit/kombu_compression').with_value('gzip') }
       it { is_expected.to contain_sahara_config('oslo_messaging_rabbit/kombu_failover_strategy').with_value('round-robin') }