diff --git a/cmd/admin-handlers.go b/cmd/admin-handlers.go
index 918d82cc3..fed54fb3a 100644
--- a/cmd/admin-handlers.go
+++ b/cmd/admin-handlers.go
@@ -1459,6 +1459,23 @@ func (a adminAPIHandlers) SetConfigKeysHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Re
 	writeSuccessResponseHeadersOnly(w)
 }
 
+// Returns true if the trace.Info should be traced,
+// false if certain conditions are not met.
+// - input entry is not of the type *trace.Info*
+// - errOnly entries are to be traced, not status code 2xx, 3xx.
+// - all entries to be traced, if not trace only S3 API requests.
+func mustTrace(entry interface{}, trcAll, errOnly bool) bool {
+	trcInfo, ok := entry.(trace.Info)
+	if !ok {
+		return false
+	}
+	trace := trcAll || !hasPrefix(trcInfo.ReqInfo.Path, minioReservedBucketPath+slashSeparator)
+	if errOnly {
+		return trace && trcInfo.RespInfo.StatusCode >= http.StatusBadRequest
+	}
+	return trace
+}
+
 // TraceHandler - POST /minio/admin/v1/trace
 // ----------
 // The handler sends http trace to the connected HTTP client.
@@ -1474,10 +1491,6 @@ func (a adminAPIHandlers) TraceHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	// Avoid reusing tcp connection if read timeout is hit
-	// This is needed to make r.Context().Done() work as
-	// expected in case of read timeout
-	w.Header().Set(xhttp.Connection, "close")
 	w.Header().Set(xhttp.ContentType, "text/event-stream")
 
 	doneCh := make(chan struct{})
@@ -1487,28 +1500,22 @@ func (a adminAPIHandlers) TraceHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	// Use buffered channel to take care of burst sends or slow w.Write()
 	traceCh := make(chan interface{}, 4000)
 
-	filter := func(entry interface{}) bool {
-		trcInfo := entry.(trace.Info)
-		if trcErr && isHTTPStatusOK(trcInfo.RespInfo.StatusCode) {
-			return false
-		}
-		if trcAll {
-			return true
-		}
-		return !strings.HasPrefix(trcInfo.ReqInfo.Path, minioReservedBucketPath)
-
-	}
-	remoteHosts := getRemoteHosts(globalEndpoints)
-	peers, err := getRestClients(remoteHosts)
+	peers, err := getRestClients(getRemoteHosts(globalEndpoints))
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
-	globalHTTPTrace.Subscribe(traceCh, doneCh, filter)
+
+	globalHTTPTrace.Subscribe(traceCh, doneCh, func(entry interface{}) bool {
+		return mustTrace(entry, trcAll, trcErr)
+	})
 
 	for _, peer := range peers {
 		peer.Trace(traceCh, doneCh, trcAll, trcErr)
 	}
 
+	keepAliveTicker := time.NewTicker(500 * time.Millisecond)
+	defer keepAliveTicker.Stop()
+
 	enc := json.NewEncoder(w)
 	for {
 		select {
@@ -1517,8 +1524,11 @@ func (a adminAPIHandlers) TraceHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 				return
 			}
 			w.(http.Flusher).Flush()
-		case <-r.Context().Done():
-			return
+		case <-keepAliveTicker.C:
+			if _, err := w.Write([]byte(" ")); err != nil {
+				return
+			}
+			w.(http.Flusher).Flush()
 		case <-GlobalServiceDoneCh:
 			return
 		}
diff --git a/cmd/handler-utils.go b/cmd/handler-utils.go
index 2cf381ccb..69f2905fa 100644
--- a/cmd/handler-utils.go
+++ b/cmd/handler-utils.go
@@ -394,20 +394,3 @@ func getHostName(r *http.Request) (hostName string) {
 	}
 	return
 }
-
-func isHTTPStatusOK(statusCode int) bool {
-	// List of success status.
-	var successStatus = []int{
-		http.StatusOK,
-		http.StatusCreated,
-		http.StatusAccepted,
-		http.StatusNoContent,
-		http.StatusPartialContent,
-	}
-	for _, okstatus := range successStatus {
-		if statusCode == okstatus {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	return false
-}
diff --git a/cmd/peer-rest-client.go b/cmd/peer-rest-client.go
index 33da7efee..fcfc29fc5 100644
--- a/cmd/peer-rest-client.go
+++ b/cmd/peer-rest-client.go
@@ -499,10 +499,12 @@ func (client *peerRESTClient) doTrace(traceCh chan interface{}, doneCh chan stru
 		if err = dec.Decode(&info); err != nil {
 			return
 		}
-		select {
-		case traceCh <- info:
-		default:
-			// Do not block on slow receivers.
+		if len(info.NodeName) > 0 {
+			select {
+			case traceCh <- info:
+			default:
+				// Do not block on slow receivers.
+			}
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/cmd/peer-rest-server.go b/cmd/peer-rest-server.go
index 2e96e2f09..9df1ff7ad 100644
--- a/cmd/peer-rest-server.go
+++ b/cmd/peer-rest-server.go
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/gorilla/mux"
-	xhttp "github.com/minio/minio/cmd/http"
 	"github.com/minio/minio/cmd/logger"
 	"github.com/minio/minio/pkg/event"
 	"github.com/minio/minio/pkg/lifecycle"
@@ -719,30 +718,22 @@ func (s *peerRESTServer) TraceHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	trcAll := r.URL.Query().Get(peerRESTTraceAll) == "true"
 	trcErr := r.URL.Query().Get(peerRESTTraceErr) == "true"
 
-	w.Header().Set(xhttp.Connection, "close")
 	w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
 	w.(http.Flusher).Flush()
 
-	filter := func(entry interface{}) bool {
-		trcInfo := entry.(trace.Info)
-
-		if trcErr && isHTTPStatusOK(trcInfo.RespInfo.StatusCode) {
-			return false
-		}
-		if trcAll {
-			return true
-		}
-		return !strings.HasPrefix(trcInfo.ReqInfo.Path, minioReservedBucketPath)
-
-	}
-
 	doneCh := make(chan struct{})
 	defer close(doneCh)
 
 	// Trace Publisher uses nonblocking publish and hence does not wait for slow subscribers.
 	// Use buffered channel to take care of burst sends or slow w.Write()
 	ch := make(chan interface{}, 2000)
-	globalHTTPTrace.Subscribe(ch, doneCh, filter)
+
+	globalHTTPTrace.Subscribe(ch, doneCh, func(entry interface{}) bool {
+		return mustTrace(entry, trcAll, trcErr)
+	})
+
+	keepAliveTicker := time.NewTicker(500 * time.Millisecond)
+	defer keepAliveTicker.Stop()
 
 	enc := gob.NewEncoder(w)
 	for {
@@ -752,8 +743,11 @@ func (s *peerRESTServer) TraceHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 				return
 			}
 			w.(http.Flusher).Flush()
-		case <-r.Context().Done():
-			return
+		case <-keepAliveTicker.C:
+			if err := enc.Encode(&trace.Info{}); err != nil {
+				return
+			}
+			w.(http.Flusher).Flush()
 		}
 	}
 }