diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5f78af33..9ce59132 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
   * `express_sid` cookies and `sessionstorage:*` database records are no longer
     created unless `requireAuthentication` is `true` (or a plugin causes them to
     be created).
-  * Login sessions now have a finite lifetime by default (10 days).
+  * Login sessions now have a finite lifetime by default (10 days after
+    leaving).
   * `sessionstorage:*` database records are automatically deleted when the login
     session expires (with some exceptions that will be fixed in the future).
   * Requests for static content (e.g., `/robots.txt`) and special pages (e.g.,
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@
 ### Compatibility changes
 
 * The default login session expiration (applicable if `requireAuthentication` is
-  `true`) changed from never to 10 days.
+  `true`) changed from never to 10 days after the user leaves.
 
 #### For plugin authors
 
diff --git a/settings.json.template b/settings.json.template
index 54372c59..c9825264 100644
--- a/settings.json.template
+++ b/settings.json.template
@@ -378,24 +378,46 @@
     "sameSite": "Lax",
 
     /*
-     * How long (in milliseconds) a session lasts before the user is required to
-     * log in again. (The express_sid cookie is set to expire at time now +
-     * sessionLifetime when first created.) If requireAuthentication is false
-     * then this value does not really matter.
+     * How long (in milliseconds) after navigating away from Etherpad before the
+     * user is required to log in again. (The express_sid cookie is set to
+     * expire at time now + sessionLifetime when first created, and its
+     * expiration time is periodically refreshed to a new now + sessionLifetime
+     * value.) If requireAuthentication is false then this value does not really
+     * matter.
      *
      * The "best" value depends on your users' usage patterns and the amount of
      * convenience you desire. A long lifetime is more convenient (users won't
      * have to log back in as often) but has some drawbacks:
      *   - It increases the amount of state kept in the database.
-     *   - It might weaken security somewhat: Once a user has accessed a pad,
-     *     the user can continue to use the pad until the session expires.
+     *   - It might weaken security somewhat: The cookie expiration is refreshed
+     *     indefinitely without consulting authentication or authorization
+     *     hooks, so once a user has accessed a pad, the user can continue to
+     *     use the pad until the user leaves for longer than sessionLifetime.
      *
      * Session lifetime can be set to infinity (not recommended) by setting this
      * to null or 0. Note that if the session does not expire, most browsers
      * will delete the cookie when the browser exits, but a session record is
      * kept in the database forever.
      */
-    "sessionLifetime": 864000000 // = 10d * 24h/d * 60m/h * 60s/m * 1000ms/s
+    "sessionLifetime": 864000000, // = 10d * 24h/d * 60m/h * 60s/m * 1000ms/s
+
+    /*
+     * How long (in milliseconds) before the expiration time of an active user's
+     * session is refreshed (to now + sessionLifetime). This setting affects the
+     * following:
+     *   - How often a new session expiration time will be written to the
+     *     database.
+     *   - How often each user's browser will ping the Etherpad server to
+     *     refresh the expiration time of the session cookie.
+     *
+     * High values reduce the load on the database and the load from browsers,
+     * but can shorten the effective session lifetime if Etherpad is restarted
+     * or the user navigates away.
+     *
+     * Automatic session refreshes can be disabled (not recommended) by setting
+     * this to null.
+     */
+    "sessionRefreshInterval": 86400000 // = 1d * 24h/d * 60m/h * 60s/m * 1000ms/s
   },
 
   /*
diff --git a/src/node/handler/PadMessageHandler.js b/src/node/handler/PadMessageHandler.js
index a358807e..2ab904d4 100644
--- a/src/node/handler/PadMessageHandler.js
+++ b/src/node/handler/PadMessageHandler.js
@@ -998,6 +998,7 @@ const handleClientReady = async (socket, message) => {
       readOnlyId: sessionInfo.readOnlyPadId,
       readonly: sessionInfo.readonly,
       serverTimestamp: Date.now(),
+      sessionRefreshInterval: settings.cookie.sessionRefreshInterval,
       userId: sessionInfo.author,
       abiwordAvailable: settings.abiwordAvailable(),
       sofficeAvailable: settings.sofficeAvailable(),
diff --git a/src/node/hooks/express.js b/src/node/hooks/express.js
index 3e231bdd..9c42fd6d 100644
--- a/src/node/hooks/express.js
+++ b/src/node/hooks/express.js
@@ -176,8 +176,10 @@ exports.restartServer = async () => {
 
   app.use(cookieParser(settings.sessionKey, {}));
 
-  sessionStore = new SessionStore();
+  sessionStore = new SessionStore(settings.cookie.sessionRefreshInterval);
   exports.sessionMiddleware = expressSession({
+    propagateTouch: true,
+    rolling: true,
     secret: settings.sessionKey,
     store: sessionStore,
     resave: false,
diff --git a/src/node/hooks/express/socketio.js b/src/node/hooks/express/socketio.js
index 47a65774..edb67994 100644
--- a/src/node/hooks/express/socketio.js
+++ b/src/node/hooks/express/socketio.js
@@ -105,6 +105,19 @@ exports.expressCreateServer = (hookName, args, cb) => {
     express.sessionMiddleware(req, {}, next);
   });
 
+  io.use((socket, next) => {
+    socket.conn.on('packet', (packet) => {
+      // Tell express-session that the session is still active. The session store can use these
+      // touch events to defer automatic session cleanup, and if express-session is configured with
+      // rolling=true the cookie's expiration time will be renewed. (Note that WebSockets does not
+      // have a standard mechanism for periodically updating the browser's cookies, so the browser
+      // will not see the new cookie expiration time unless it makes a new HTTP request or the new
+      // cookie value is sent to the client in a custom socket.io message.)
+      if (socket.request.session != null) socket.request.session.touch();
+    });
+    next();
+  });
+
   // var socketIOLogger = log4js.getLogger("socket.io");
   // Debug logging now has to be set at an environment level, this is stupid.
   // https://github.com/Automattic/socket.io/wiki/Migrating-to-1.0
diff --git a/src/node/hooks/express/specialpages.js b/src/node/hooks/express/specialpages.js
index bf23487c..e0a2e681 100644
--- a/src/node/hooks/express/specialpages.js
+++ b/src/node/hooks/express/specialpages.js
@@ -106,5 +106,12 @@ exports.expressCreateServer = (hookName, args, cb) => {
     }));
   });
 
+  // The client occasionally polls this endpoint to get an updated expiration for the express_sid
+  // cookie. This handler must be installed after the express-session middleware.
+  args.app.put('/_extendExpressSessionLifetime', (req, res) => {
+    // express-session automatically calls req.session.touch() so we don't need to do it here.
+    res.json({status: 'ok'});
+  });
+
   return cb();
 };
diff --git a/src/node/utils/Settings.js b/src/node/utils/Settings.js
index cd4e5c8f..51f48237 100644
--- a/src/node/utils/Settings.js
+++ b/src/node/utils/Settings.js
@@ -323,6 +323,7 @@ exports.cookie = {
    */
   sameSite: 'Lax',
   sessionLifetime: 10 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000,
+  sessionRefreshInterval: 1 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000,
 };
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/static/js/pad.js b/src/static/js/pad.js
index 1696acc5..e831454d 100644
--- a/src/static/js/pad.js
+++ b/src/static/js/pad.js
@@ -293,6 +293,11 @@ const handshake = async () => {
     } else if (!receivedClientVars && obj.type === 'CLIENT_VARS') {
       receivedClientVars = true;
       window.clientVars = obj.data;
+      if (window.clientVars.sessionRefreshInterval) {
+        const ping =
+            () => $.ajax('../_extendExpressSessionLifetime', {method: 'PUT'}).catch(() => {});
+        setInterval(ping, window.clientVars.sessionRefreshInterval);
+      }
     } else if (obj.disconnect) {
       padconnectionstatus.disconnected(obj.disconnect);
       socket.disconnect();
diff --git a/src/static/js/timeslider.js b/src/static/js/timeslider.js
index 7268f95f..24687206 100644
--- a/src/static/js/timeslider.js
+++ b/src/static/js/timeslider.js
@@ -111,6 +111,12 @@ const handleClientVars = (message) => {
   // save the client Vars
   window.clientVars = message.data;
 
+  if (window.clientVars.sessionRefreshInterval) {
+    const ping =
+        () => $.ajax('../../_extendExpressSessionLifetime', {method: 'PUT'}).catch(() => {});
+    setInterval(ping, window.clientVars.sessionRefreshInterval);
+  }
+
   // load all script that doesn't work without the clientVars
   BroadcastSlider = require('./broadcast_slider')
       .loadBroadcastSliderJS(fireWhenAllScriptsAreLoaded);