diff --git a/src/lib/proxy.c b/src/lib/proxy.c
index 30c4a72..b4a4b7b 100644
--- a/src/lib/proxy.c
+++ b/src/lib/proxy.c
@@ -399,8 +399,9 @@ int proxy_init(proxy_ctx_t **proxy_ptr, http_req *req, http_res *res, http_statu
         if (!retry)
             return -1;
 
+        // honor server timeout with one second buffer
         if (!proxy->initialized || sock_has_pending(&proxy->proxy, SOCK_DONTWAIT) != 0 || srv_error ||
-           (proxy->http_timeout != 0 && (clock_micros() - proxy->proxy.ts_last) >= proxy->http_timeout))
+           (proxy->http_timeout != 0 && (clock_micros() - proxy->proxy.ts_last_send) >= proxy->http_timeout - 1000000))
         {
             if (proxy->initialized)
                 proxy_close(proxy);
diff --git a/src/lib/sock.c b/src/lib/sock.c
index aef28a2..14c29c9 100644
--- a/src/lib/sock.c
+++ b/src/lib/sock.c
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ int sock_init(sock *s, int fd, int flags) {
     s->pipe = !!(flags & SOCK_PIPE);
     s->ts_start = clock_micros();
     s->ts_last = s->ts_start;
+    s->ts_last_send = s->ts_last;
     s->timeout_us = -1;
     s->ssl = NULL;
     s->addr = NULL;
@@ -224,6 +225,7 @@ long sock_send(sock *s, void *buf, unsigned long len, int flags) {
 
     if (ret >= 0) {
         s->ts_last = clock_micros();
+        s->ts_last_send = s->ts_last;
         return ret;
     } else {
         return -1;
diff --git a/src/lib/sock.h b/src/lib/sock.h
index b90c47e..ecebcc2 100644
--- a/src/lib/sock.h
+++ b/src/lib/sock.h
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ typedef struct {
     char *addr, *s_addr;
     SSL_CTX *ctx;
     SSL *ssl;
-    long ts_start, ts_last, timeout_us;
+    long ts_start, ts_last, ts_last_send, timeout_us;
 } sock;
 
 void sock_error(sock *s, int ret);
diff --git a/src/worker/tcp_acceptor.c b/src/worker/tcp_acceptor.c
index 24794d1..24d4449 100644
--- a/src/worker/tcp_acceptor.c
+++ b/src/worker/tcp_acceptor.c
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ static int tcp_acceptor(client_ctx_t *ctx) {
             return -1;
         }
         client->ts_last = clock_micros();
+        client->ts_last_send = client->ts_last;
     }
 
     ctx->req_num = 0;