diff --git a/lib/dashing.js b/lib/dashing.js
index 8a25b4e..0e39314 100644
--- a/lib/dashing.js
+++ b/lib/dashing.js
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ module.exports.Dashing = function Dashing() {
   dashing.views = dashing.root + '/dashboards';
   dashing.default_dashboard = null;
   dashing.port = (process.env.PORT || 3030);
+  dashing.force_close_event_socket = false;
 
   dashing.protected = function(req, res, next) {
     next();
@@ -84,14 +85,17 @@ module.exports.Dashing = function Dashing() {
     // let request last as long as possible
     req.socket.setTimeout(0);
 
-    var conn = {
-      id: (new Date().getTime().toString() + Math.floor(Math.random() * 1000).toString()),
-      send: function(body) {
-        res.write(body);
-        res.flush(); // need to flush with .compress()
-      }
-    };
-    connections[conn.id] = conn;
+    if (!dashing.force_close_event_socket) {
+      // this won't be necessary if we close the connection after each data package
+      var conn = {
+        id: (new Date().getTime().toString() + Math.floor(Math.random() * 1000).toString()),
+        send: function(body) {
+          res.write(body);
+          res.flush(); // need to flush with .compress()
+        }
+      };
+      connections[conn.id] = conn;
+    }
 
     // send headers for event-stream connection
     res.writeHead(200, {
@@ -105,9 +109,14 @@ module.exports.Dashing = function Dashing() {
     res.write(latest_events());
     res.flush(); // need to flush with .compress()
 
-    req.on('close', function() {
-      delete connections[conn.id];
-    });
+    if (!dashing.force_close_event_socket) {
+	    req.on('close', function() {
+	      delete connections[conn.id];
+	    });
+    }
+    else {
+    	res.end();
+    }
   });
 
   app.get('/', function(req, res) {