diff --git a/sites/all/modules/contrib/httprl/httprl.module b/sites/all/modules/contrib/httprl/httprl.module
index 78bd90a01..ff68cff87 100644
--- a/sites/all/modules/contrib/httprl/httprl.module
+++ b/sites/all/modules/contrib/httprl/httprl.module
@@ -450,6 +450,7 @@ function httprl_set_default_options(&$options) {
     'chunk_size_write' => 1024,
     'async_connect' => TRUE,
     'ping_db' => 20,
+    'ignore_empty_chunk' => FALSE,
   );
 
   // Adjust Time To First Byte Timeout if timeout is large and ttfb is default.
@@ -1032,6 +1033,10 @@ function httprl_establish_stream_connection(&$result) {
  *   - ping_db: After X amount of time, ping the DB with a simple query in order
  *     to keep the connection alive. Default is every 20 seconds. Set to 0 to
  *     disable.
+ *   - ignore_empty_chunk: an empty chunk returned from a stream will:
+ *     default FALSE - make the connection not 'alive' and stop reading;
+ *     TRUE - not stop a stream from being 'alive' and will continue to read
+ *     until EOF or timeout.
  *
  * @return array
  *   Array where key is the URL and the value is the return value from
@@ -1502,7 +1507,12 @@ function httprl_send_request($results = NULL) {
 
           // Get stream data.
           $info = stream_get_meta_data($r);
-          $alive = !$info['eof'] && !feof($r) && !$info['timed_out'] && strlen($chunk);
+          $alive = !$info['eof'] && !feof($r) && !$info['timed_out'];
+          // Determine if an empty chunk of data means the connection should
+          // stop reading even though EOF or timeout has not occurred.
+          if ($alive && !$responses[$id]->options['ignore_empty_chunk'] && !strlen($chunk)) {
+            $alive = FALSE;
+          }
           if (!$alive) {
             if ($responses[$id]->status == 'Connecting.') {
               $responses[$id]->error = $t('Connection refused by destination. TCP.');