diff --git a/src/socketio/async_redis_manager.py b/src/socketio/async_redis_manager.py
index b8ac4a0..b55e1fc 100644
--- a/src/socketio/async_redis_manager.py
+++ b/src/socketio/async_redis_manager.py
@@ -95,16 +95,23 @@ class AsyncRedisManager(AsyncPubSubManager):
     def _redis_connect(self):
         module, _ = self._get_redis_module_and_error()
         parsed_url = urlparse(self.redis_url)
+        pubsub_defaults = {
+            "decode_responses": False,   # keep channels as bytes
+            "socket_timeout": None,      # block indefinitely on pub/sub
+            "health_check_interval": 0,  # no periodic PINGs on read socket
+            "retry_on_timeout": False,   # Pub/Sub loop handles reconnects
+        }
+        kwargs = {**pubsub_defaults, **(self.redis_options or {})}
+
         if parsed_url.scheme in {"redis+sentinel", "valkey+sentinel"}:
             sentinels, service_name, connection_kwargs = \
                 parse_redis_sentinel_url(self.redis_url)
-            kwargs = self.redis_options
-            kwargs.update(connection_kwargs)
-            sentinel = module.sentinel.Sentinel(sentinels, **kwargs)
+            connection_kwargs.update(kwargs)
+            sentinel = module.sentinel.Sentinel(sentinels, **connection_kwargs)
             self.redis = sentinel.master_for(service_name or self.channel)
         else:
             self.redis = module.Redis.from_url(self.redis_url,
-                                               **self.redis_options)
+                                               **kwargs)
         self.pubsub = self.redis.pubsub(ignore_subscribe_messages=True)
 
     async def _publish(self, data):  # pragma: no cover
diff --git a/tests/async/test_redis_manager.py b/tests/async/test_redis_manager.py
index 01c0c37..52afb51 100644
--- a/tests/async/test_redis_manager.py
+++ b/tests/async/test_redis_manager.py
@@ -105,3 +105,40 @@ class TestAsyncRedisManager:
             assert isinstance(c.redis, valkey.asyncio.Valkey)
 
         async_redis_manager.aioredis = saved_redis
+
+    def test_pubsub_defaults_pinned_for_redis(self):
+        c = AsyncRedisManager('redis://localhost:6379/0')
+        kw = c.redis.connection_pool.connection_kwargs
+        assert kw.get('decode_responses') is False
+        assert kw.get('socket_timeout') is None
+        assert kw.get('health_check_interval') == 0
+        assert kw.get('retry_on_timeout') is False
+
+    def test_pubsub_defaults_pinned_for_valkey(self):
+        saved_redis = async_redis_manager.aioredis
+        async_redis_manager.aioredis = None
+        try:
+            c = AsyncRedisManager('valkey://localhost:6379/0')
+            kw = c.redis.connection_pool.connection_kwargs
+            assert kw.get('decode_responses') is False
+            assert kw.get('socket_timeout') is None
+            assert kw.get('health_check_interval') == 0
+            assert kw.get('retry_on_timeout') is False
+        finally:
+            async_redis_manager.aioredis = saved_redis
+
+    def test_pubsub_defaults_can_be_overridden(self):
+        c = AsyncRedisManager(
+            'redis://localhost:6379/0',
+            redis_options={
+                'decode_responses': True,
+                'socket_timeout': 7,
+                'health_check_interval': 13,
+                'retry_on_timeout': True,
+            },
+        )
+        kw = c.redis.connection_pool.connection_kwargs
+        assert kw.get('decode_responses') is True
+        assert kw.get('socket_timeout') == 7
+        assert kw.get('health_check_interval') == 13
+        assert kw.get('retry_on_timeout') is True