diff --git a/lib/request.js b/lib/request.js
index 756cb8fc..d8ff7dce 100644
--- a/lib/request.js
+++ b/lib/request.js
@@ -24,8 +24,17 @@ if (proxyAddress && localAddresses) {
 	console.error('Both env vars HTTPS_PROXY/HTTP_PROXY and LOCAL_ADDRESS are not supported.')
 	process.exit(1)
 }
-let getAgent = () => null
+
+const plainAgent = new HttpsAgent({
+	keepAlive: true,
+})
+let getAgent = () => plainAgent
+
 if (proxyAddress) {
+	// todo: this doesn't honor `keepAlive: true`
+	// related:
+	// - https://github.com/TooTallNate/node-https-proxy-agent/pull/112
+	// - https://github.com/TooTallNate/node-agent-base/issues/5
 	const agent = new ProxyAgent(proxyAddress)
 	getAgent = () => agent
 } else if (localAddresses) {
@@ -33,7 +42,10 @@ if (proxyAddress) {
 	.map((addr) => {
 		const family = isIP(addr)
 		if (family === 0) throw new Error('invalid local address:' + addr)
-		return new HttpsAgent({localAddress: addr, family})
+		return new HttpsAgent({
+			localAddress: addr, family,
+			keepAlive: true,
+		})
 	})
 	const pool = roundRobin(agents)
 	getAgent = () => pool.get()
@@ -74,7 +86,8 @@ const request = (ctx, userAgent, reqData) => {
 			'Content-Type': 'application/json',
 			'Accept-Encoding': 'gzip, br, deflate',
 			'Accept': 'application/json',
-			'user-agent': randomizeUserAgent(userAgent)
+			'user-agent': randomizeUserAgent(userAgent),
+			'connection': 'keep-alive', // prevent excessive re-connecting
 		},
 		redirect: 'follow',
 		query: {}