diff --git a/modules/invenio-oaiserver/invenio_oaiserver/config.py b/modules/invenio-oaiserver/invenio_oaiserver/config.py
index f9ba3e382d..f04edd35bf 100644
--- a/modules/invenio-oaiserver/invenio_oaiserver/config.py
+++ b/modules/invenio-oaiserver/invenio_oaiserver/config.py
@@ -35,15 +35,28 @@
 with meanings as defined in ISO8601.
 """
 
-OAISERVER_RESUMPTION_TOKEN_EXPIRE_TIME = 24 * 60 * 60
+OAISERVER_RESUMPTION_TOKEN_EXPIRE_TIME = 60 * 60
 """The expiration time of a resumption token in seconds.
 
-**Default: 60 seconds = 1 minute**.
+**Default: 3600 seconds = 1 hour**.
+
+The same value is used as the keep-alive of the Elasticsearch scroll
+opened by ListRecords / ListIdentifiers. The keep-alive is renewed on
+every page request, so it only needs to cover the interval between two
+consecutive requests of a harvester, not the whole harvest.
 
 .. note::
 
     Setting longer expiration time may have a negative impact on your
     Elasticsearch cluster as it might need to keep open cursors.
+    A scroll is cleared only when the last page is returned, so every
+    harvest abandoned halfway keeps its scroll contexts on the heap until
+    this time elapses. The previous default (24 hours) caused the heap of
+    the Elasticsearch data nodes to grow for days.
+
+    Elasticsearch rejects a keep-alive longer than
+    ``search.max_keep_alive`` (default: 24h). Keep this value at or below
+    that setting.
 
     https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/search-request-scroll.html
 """
diff --git a/modules/invenio-oaiserver/tests/test_app.py b/modules/invenio-oaiserver/tests/test_app.py
index 761cbafcea..fdf7a786b8 100644
--- a/modules/invenio-oaiserver/tests/test_app.py
+++ b/modules/invenio-oaiserver/tests/test_app.py
@@ -27,3 +27,18 @@ def test_init():
     app = Flask('testapp')
     with pytest.warns(None):
         InvenioOAIServer(app)
+
+
+def test_resumption_token_expire_time_default():
+    """Scroll keep-alive defaults to 1 hour, not 24 hours."""
+    app = Flask('testapp')
+    InvenioOAIServer(app)
+    assert app.config['OAISERVER_RESUMPTION_TOKEN_EXPIRE_TIME'] == 3600
+
+
+def test_resumption_token_expire_time_override():
+    """A value set by the instance config is kept."""
+    app = Flask('testapp')
+    app.config['OAISERVER_RESUMPTION_TOKEN_EXPIRE_TIME'] = 600
+    InvenioOAIServer(app)
+    assert app.config['OAISERVER_RESUMPTION_TOKEN_EXPIRE_TIME'] == 600
diff --git a/modules/invenio-oaiserver/tests/test_query.py b/modules/invenio-oaiserver/tests/test_query.py
index e62d2283db..43583aa219 100644
--- a/modules/invenio-oaiserver/tests/test_query.py
+++ b/modules/invenio-oaiserver/tests/test_query.py
@@ -460,3 +460,28 @@ def rq_spy(_from, _until):
         get_records(**kwargs)
         assert called["filter"] == expect_range
         assert called["rq"] == expect_rq
+
+
+def test_get_records_scroll_keep_alive(es_app, db):
+    """The scroll keep-alive follows OAISERVER_RESUMPTION_TOKEN_EXPIRE_TIME."""
+    assert es_app.config['OAISERVER_RESUMPTION_TOKEN_EXPIRE_TIME'] == 3600
+
+    # first page: the scroll is opened with the configured keep-alive
+    with patch.object(current_search_client, 'search',
+                      wraps=current_search_client.search) as mock_search:
+        get_records()
+    assert mock_search.call_args[1]['scroll'] == '3600s'
+
+    # next pages: the keep-alive is renewed with the same value
+    response = {'_scroll_id': 'dummy', 'hits': {'total': 0, 'hits': []}}
+    with patch.object(current_search_client, 'scroll',
+                      return_value=response) as mock_scroll, \
+            patch.object(current_search_client, 'clear_scroll'):
+        get_records(resumptionToken={'page': 2, 'scroll_id': 'dummy'})
+    mock_scroll.assert_called_once_with(scroll_id='dummy', scroll='3600s')
+
+    es_app.config['OAISERVER_RESUMPTION_TOKEN_EXPIRE_TIME'] = 600
+    with patch.object(current_search_client, 'search',
+                      wraps=current_search_client.search) as mock_search:
+        get_records()
+    assert mock_search.call_args[1]['scroll'] == '600s'