diff --git a/doq.go b/doq.go
index eb7ed1c..9d0bdd9 100644
--- a/doq.go
+++ b/doq.go
@@ -42,11 +42,12 @@ const doqPoolSize = 16
 
 // doqConnPool manages a pool of QUIC connections for DoQ queries using a buffered channel.
 type doqConnPool struct {
-	uc        *UpstreamConfig
-	addrs     []string
-	port      string
-	tlsConfig *tls.Config
-	conns     chan *doqConn
+	uc         *UpstreamConfig
+	addrs      []string
+	port       string
+	tlsConfig  *tls.Config
+	quicConfig *quic.Config
+	conns      chan *doqConn
 }
 
 type doqConn struct {
@@ -65,12 +66,17 @@ func newDOQConnPool(uc *UpstreamConfig, addrs []string) *doqConnPool {
 		ServerName: uc.Domain,
 	}
 
+	quicConfig := &quic.Config{
+		KeepAlivePeriod: 15 * time.Second,
+	}
+
 	pool := &doqConnPool{
-		uc:        uc,
-		addrs:     addrs,
-		port:      port,
-		tlsConfig: tlsConfig,
-		conns:     make(chan *doqConn, doqPoolSize),
+		uc:         uc,
+		addrs:      addrs,
+		port:       port,
+		tlsConfig:  tlsConfig,
+		quicConfig: quicConfig,
+		conns:      make(chan *doqConn, doqPoolSize),
 	}
 
 	// Use SetFinalizer here because we need to call a method on the pool itself.
@@ -85,12 +91,17 @@ func newDOQConnPool(uc *UpstreamConfig, addrs []string) *doqConnPool {
 
 // Resolve performs a DNS query using a pooled QUIC connection.
 func (p *doqConnPool) Resolve(ctx context.Context, msg *dns.Msg) (*dns.Msg, error) {
-	// Retry logic for io.EOF errors (as per original implementation)
+	// Retry logic for transient errors: io.EOF (connection reset) and
+	// IdleTimeoutError (stale pooled connection timed out).
 	for range 5 {
 		answer, err := p.doResolve(ctx, msg)
 		if err == io.EOF {
 			continue
 		}
+		var idleErr *quic.IdleTimeoutError
+		if errors.As(err, &idleErr) {
+			continue
+		}
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, wrapCertificateVerificationError(err)
 		}
@@ -226,7 +237,7 @@ func (p *doqConnPool) dialConn(ctx context.Context) (string, *quic.Conn, error)
 			udpConn.Close()
 			return "", nil, err
 		}
-		conn, err := quic.DialEarly(ctx, udpConn, remoteAddr, p.tlsConfig, nil)
+		conn, err := quic.DialEarly(ctx, udpConn, remoteAddr, p.tlsConfig, p.quicConfig)
 		if err != nil {
 			udpConn.Close()
 			return "", nil, err
@@ -241,7 +252,7 @@ func (p *doqConnPool) dialConn(ctx context.Context) (string, *quic.Conn, error)
 	}
 
 	pd := &quicParallelDialer{}
-	conn, err := pd.Dial(ctx, dialAddrs, p.tlsConfig, nil)
+	conn, err := pd.Dial(ctx, dialAddrs, p.tlsConfig, p.quicConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", nil, err
 	}