diff --git a/packages/core/src/lib/keep_alive_manager.ts b/packages/core/src/lib/keep_alive_manager.ts
index 26f7c296d9..9746f52869 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/lib/keep_alive_manager.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/lib/keep_alive_manager.ts
@@ -37,14 +37,24 @@ export class KeepAliveManager {
 
     const peerIdStr = peerId.toString();
 
+    // Ping the peer every pingPeriodSecs seconds
+    // if pingPeriodSecs is 0, don't ping the peer
     if (pingPeriodSecs !== 0) {
       const interval = setInterval(() => {
         void (async () => {
+          let ping: number;
           try {
             // ping the peer for keep alive
             // also update the peer store with the latency
-            const ping = await libp2pPing.ping(peerId);
-            log(`Ping succeeded (${peerIdStr})`, ping);
+            try {
+              ping = await libp2pPing.ping(peerId);
+              log(`Ping succeeded (${peerIdStr})`, ping);
+            } catch (error) {
+              log(`Ping failed for peer (${peerIdStr}).
+                Next ping will be attempted in ${pingPeriodSecs} seconds.
+              `);
+              return;
+            }
 
             try {
               await peerStore.patch(peerId, {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/lib/waku.ts b/packages/core/src/lib/waku.ts
index d4134ac07f..0da4102ab1 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/lib/waku.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/lib/waku.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import debug from "debug";
 
 import { ConnectionManager } from "./connection_manager.js";
 
-export const DefaultPingKeepAliveValueSecs = 0;
+export const DefaultPingKeepAliveValueSecs = 5 * 60;
 export const DefaultRelayKeepAliveValueSecs = 5 * 60;
 export const DefaultUserAgent = "js-waku";