diff --git a/clientlibrary/checkpoint/dynamodb-checkpointer.go b/clientlibrary/checkpoint/dynamodb-checkpointer.go
index 1cce247..1b61f45 100644
--- a/clientlibrary/checkpoint/dynamodb-checkpointer.go
+++ b/clientlibrary/checkpoint/dynamodb-checkpointer.go
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ func (checkpointer *DynamoCheckpoint) GetLease(shard *par.ShardStatus, newAssign
 			return err
 		}
 
-		if !time.Now().UTC().After(currentLeaseTimeout) && assignedTo != newAssignTo {
+		if time.Now().UTC().Before(currentLeaseTimeout) && assignedTo != newAssignTo {
 			return errors.New(ErrLeaseNotAquired)
 		}
 
diff --git a/clientlibrary/config/config.go b/clientlibrary/config/config.go
index e4fd36e..c517645 100644
--- a/clientlibrary/config/config.go
+++ b/clientlibrary/config/config.go
@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ const (
 	// the number of DynamoDB IOPS required for tracking leases.
 	DEFAULT_FAILOVER_TIME_MILLIS = 10000
 
+	// Period before the end of lease during which a lease is refreshed by the owner.
+	DEFAULT_LEASE_REFRESH_PERIOD_MILLIS = 5000
+
 	// Max records to fetch from Kinesis in a single GetRecords call.
 	DEFAULT_MAX_RECORDS = 10000
 
@@ -190,7 +193,10 @@ type (
 		// FailoverTimeMillis Lease duration (leases not renewed within this period will be claimed by others)
 		FailoverTimeMillis int
 
-		/// MaxRecords Max records to read per Kinesis getRecords() call
+		// LeaseRefreshPeriodMillis is the period before the end of lease during which a lease is refreshed by the owner.
+		LeaseRefreshPeriodMillis int
+
+		// MaxRecords Max records to read per Kinesis getRecords() call
 		MaxRecords int
 
 		// IdleTimeBetweenReadsInMillis Idle time between calls to fetch data from Kinesis
diff --git a/clientlibrary/config/kcl-config.go b/clientlibrary/config/kcl-config.go
index ec59be9..d7960e9 100644
--- a/clientlibrary/config/kcl-config.go
+++ b/clientlibrary/config/kcl-config.go
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ func NewKinesisClientLibConfigWithCredentials(applicationName, streamName, regio
 		InitialPositionInStream:                          DEFAULT_INITIAL_POSITION_IN_STREAM,
 		InitialPositionInStreamExtended:                  *newInitialPosition(DEFAULT_INITIAL_POSITION_IN_STREAM),
 		FailoverTimeMillis:                               DEFAULT_FAILOVER_TIME_MILLIS,
+		LeaseRefreshPeriodMillis:                         DEFAULT_LEASE_REFRESH_PERIOD_MILLIS,
 		MaxRecords:                                       DEFAULT_MAX_RECORDS,
 		IdleTimeBetweenReadsInMillis:                     DEFAULT_IDLETIME_BETWEEN_READS_MILLIS,
 		CallProcessRecordsEvenForEmptyRecordList:         DEFAULT_DONT_CALL_PROCESS_RECORDS_FOR_EMPTY_RECORD_LIST,
@@ -133,6 +134,12 @@ func (c *KinesisClientLibConfiguration) WithFailoverTimeMillis(failoverTimeMilli
 	return c
 }
 
+func (c *KinesisClientLibConfiguration) WithLeaseRefreshPeriodMillis(leaseRefreshPeriodMillis int) *KinesisClientLibConfiguration {
+	checkIsValuePositive("LeaseRefreshPeriodMillis", leaseRefreshPeriodMillis)
+	c.LeaseRefreshPeriodMillis = leaseRefreshPeriodMillis
+	return c
+}
+
 func (c *KinesisClientLibConfiguration) WithShardSyncIntervalMillis(shardSyncIntervalMillis int) *KinesisClientLibConfiguration {
 	checkIsValuePositive("ShardSyncIntervalMillis", shardSyncIntervalMillis)
 	c.ShardSyncIntervalMillis = shardSyncIntervalMillis
diff --git a/clientlibrary/worker/shard-consumer.go b/clientlibrary/worker/shard-consumer.go
index 06a09eb..476ab01 100644
--- a/clientlibrary/worker/shard-consumer.go
+++ b/clientlibrary/worker/shard-consumer.go
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ func (sc *ShardConsumer) getRecords(shard *par.ShardStatus) error {
 	retriedErrors := 0
 
 	for {
-		if time.Now().UTC().After(shard.LeaseTimeout.Add(-5 * time.Second)) {
+		if time.Now().UTC().After(shard.LeaseTimeout.Add(-time.Duration(sc.kclConfig.LeaseRefreshPeriodMillis) * time.Millisecond)) {
 			log.Debugf("Refreshing lease on shard: %s for worker: %s", shard.ID, sc.consumerID)
 			err = sc.checkpointer.GetLease(shard, sc.consumerID)
 			if err != nil {
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ func (sc *ShardConsumer) getRecords(shard *par.ShardStatus) error {
 			shutdownInput := &kcl.ShutdownInput{ShutdownReason: kcl.REQUESTED, Checkpointer: recordCheckpointer}
 			sc.recordProcessor.Shutdown(shutdownInput)
 			return nil
-		case <-time.After(1 * time.Nanosecond):
+		default:
 		}
 	}
 }