diff --git a/sys/net/application_layer/asymcute/asymcute.c b/sys/net/application_layer/asymcute/asymcute.c
index 10dbf2e515..f387ff7d8a 100644
--- a/sys/net/application_layer/asymcute/asymcute.c
+++ b/sys/net/application_layer/asymcute/asymcute.c
@@ -325,6 +325,7 @@ static void _on_connack(asymcute_con_t *con, const uint8_t *data, size_t len)
     if (data[2] == MQTTSN_ACCEPTED) {
         con->state = CONNECTED;
         /* start keep alive timer */
+        con->keepalive_retry_cnt = ASYMCUTE_N_RETRY;
         event_timeout_set(&con->keepalive_timer, KEEPALIVE_TO);
         ret = ASYMCUTE_CONNECTED;
     }