diff --git a/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/spring-cloud-netflix.adoc b/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/spring-cloud-netflix.adoc
index 9317992e8..db08c87a1 100755
--- a/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/spring-cloud-netflix.adoc
+++ b/docs/modules/ROOT/pages/spring-cloud-netflix.adoc
@@ -110,6 +110,17 @@ eureka:
       socket-timeout: 10000
 ----
 
+When using the default Apache HTTP Client Request Factory, an additional parameter can be used to configure timeout for evicting idle connections. Default value is 30 seconds. Value must be specified in milliseconds.
+
+.application.yml
+[source,yaml]
+----
+eureka:
+  client:
+    rest-template-timeout:
+      idle-timeout: 30000
+----
+
 === Status Page and Health Indicator
 
 The status page and health indicators for a Eureka instance default to `/info` and `/health` respectively, which are the default locations of useful endpoints in a Spring Boot Actuator application.
diff --git a/spring-cloud-netflix-eureka-client/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/netflix/eureka/RestTemplateTimeoutProperties.java b/spring-cloud-netflix-eureka-client/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/netflix/eureka/RestTemplateTimeoutProperties.java
index 394420ddb..93b966929 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-netflix-eureka-client/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/netflix/eureka/RestTemplateTimeoutProperties.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-netflix-eureka-client/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/netflix/eureka/RestTemplateTimeoutProperties.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2013-2022 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2013-2024 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
  * {@link RestTemplateEurekaHttpClient}.
  *
  * @author Jiwon Jeon
+ * @author Armin Krezovic
  * @since 3.1.6
  */
 @ConfigurationProperties("eureka.client.rest-template-timeout")
@@ -45,6 +46,12 @@ public class RestTemplateTimeoutProperties {
 
 	private int socketTimeout = 3 * 60 * 1000;
 
+	/**
+	 * Indicates how long a connection can be idle before it is evicted from the
+	 * connection pool.
+	 */
+	private long idleTimeout = 30 * 60 * 1000L;
+
 	public int getConnectTimeout() {
 		return connectTimeout;
 	}
@@ -69,6 +76,14 @@ public void setSocketTimeout(int socketTimeout) {
 		this.socketTimeout = socketTimeout;
 	}
 
+	public long getIdleTimeout() {
+		return idleTimeout;
+	}
+
+	public void setIdleTimeout(long idleTimeout) {
+		this.idleTimeout = idleTimeout;
+	}
+
 	@Override
 	public boolean equals(Object o) {
 		if (this == o) {
@@ -81,18 +96,18 @@ public boolean equals(Object o) {
 		RestTemplateTimeoutProperties that = (RestTemplateTimeoutProperties) o;
 
 		return connectTimeout == that.connectTimeout && connectRequestTimeout == that.connectRequestTimeout
-				&& socketTimeout == that.socketTimeout;
+				&& socketTimeout == that.socketTimeout && idleTimeout == that.idleTimeout;
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public int hashCode() {
-		return Objects.hash(connectTimeout, connectRequestTimeout, socketTimeout);
+		return Objects.hash(connectTimeout, connectRequestTimeout, socketTimeout, idleTimeout);
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public String toString() {
 		return "RestTemplateTimeoutProperties{" + ", connectTimeout=" + connectTimeout + ", connectRequestTimeout="
-				+ connectRequestTimeout + ", socketTimeout=" + socketTimeout + '}';
+				+ connectRequestTimeout + ", socketTimeout=" + socketTimeout + ", idleTimeout=" + idleTimeout + '}';
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/spring-cloud-netflix-eureka-client/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/netflix/eureka/http/DefaultEurekaClientHttpRequestFactorySupplier.java b/spring-cloud-netflix-eureka-client/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/netflix/eureka/http/DefaultEurekaClientHttpRequestFactorySupplier.java
index 36bf1b35a..2668c9f25 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-netflix-eureka-client/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/netflix/eureka/http/DefaultEurekaClientHttpRequestFactorySupplier.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-netflix-eureka-client/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/netflix/eureka/http/DefaultEurekaClientHttpRequestFactorySupplier.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2013-2022 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2013-2024 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package org.springframework.cloud.netflix.eureka.http;
 
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 
 import javax.net.ssl.HostnameVerifier;
 import javax.net.ssl.SSLContext;
@@ -29,8 +30,10 @@
 import org.apache.hc.client5.http.io.HttpClientConnectionManager;
 import org.apache.hc.client5.http.ssl.SSLConnectionSocketFactoryBuilder;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.io.SocketConfig;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.util.TimeValue;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.util.Timeout;
 
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.DisposableBean;
 import org.springframework.cloud.netflix.eureka.RestTemplateTimeoutProperties;
 import org.springframework.http.client.ClientHttpRequestFactory;
 import org.springframework.http.client.HttpComponentsClientHttpRequestFactory;
@@ -43,9 +46,13 @@
  * @author Marcin Grzejszczak
  * @author Olga Maciaszek-Sharma
  * @author Jiwon Jeon
+ * @author Armin Krezovic
  * @since 3.0.0
  */
-public class DefaultEurekaClientHttpRequestFactorySupplier implements EurekaClientHttpRequestFactorySupplier {
+public class DefaultEurekaClientHttpRequestFactorySupplier
+		implements EurekaClientHttpRequestFactorySupplier, DisposableBean {
+
+	private final AtomicReference<CloseableHttpClient> ref = new AtomicReference<>();
 
 	private final RestTemplateTimeoutProperties restTemplateTimeoutProperties;
 
@@ -64,7 +71,18 @@ public DefaultEurekaClientHttpRequestFactorySupplier(RestTemplateTimeoutProperti
 
 	@Override
 	public ClientHttpRequestFactory get(SSLContext sslContext, @Nullable HostnameVerifier hostnameVerifier) {
-		HttpClientBuilder httpClientBuilder = HttpClientBuilder.create();
+		TimeValue timeValue;
+
+		if (restTemplateTimeoutProperties != null) {
+			timeValue = TimeValue.ofMilliseconds(restTemplateTimeoutProperties.getIdleTimeout());
+		}
+		else {
+			timeValue = TimeValue.of(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+		}
+
+		HttpClientBuilder httpClientBuilder = HttpClients.custom().evictExpiredConnections()
+				.evictIdleConnections(timeValue);
+
 		if (sslContext != null || hostnameVerifier != null || restTemplateTimeoutProperties != null) {
 			httpClientBuilder.setConnectionManager(
 					buildConnectionManager(sslContext, hostnameVerifier, restTemplateTimeoutProperties));
@@ -73,7 +91,11 @@ public ClientHttpRequestFactory get(SSLContext sslContext, @Nullable HostnameVer
 			httpClientBuilder.setDefaultRequestConfig(buildRequestConfig());
 		}
 
-		CloseableHttpClient httpClient = httpClientBuilder.build();
+		if (ref.get() == null) {
+			ref.compareAndSet(null, httpClientBuilder.build());
+		}
+
+		CloseableHttpClient httpClient = ref.get();
 		HttpComponentsClientHttpRequestFactory requestFactory = new HttpComponentsClientHttpRequestFactory();
 		requestFactory.setHttpClient(httpClient);
 		return requestFactory;
@@ -108,4 +130,13 @@ private RequestConfig buildRequestConfig() {
 				.build();
 	}
 
+	@Override
+	public void destroy() throws Exception {
+		CloseableHttpClient httpClient = ref.get();
+
+		if (httpClient != null) {
+			httpClient.close();
+		}
+	}
+
 }