diff --git a/includes/common.inc b/includes/common.inc
index 05af5a7..e1fb44f 100644
--- a/includes/common.inc
+++ b/includes/common.inc
@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@ if (!defined('E_DEPRECATED')) {
 }
 
 /**
+ * Error code indicating that the request made by drupal_http_request() exceeded
+ * the specified timeout.
+ */
+define('HTTP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT', -1);
+
+/**
  * Set content for a specified region.
  *
  * @param $region
@@ -435,11 +441,15 @@ function drupal_access_denied() {
  * @param $retry
  *   An integer representing how many times to retry the request in case of a
  *   redirect.
+ * @param $timeout
+ *   A float representing the maximum number of seconds the function call may
+ *   take. The default is 30 seconds. If a timeout occurs, the error code is set
+ *   to the HTTP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT constant.
  * @return
  *   An object containing the HTTP request headers, response code, protocol,
  *   status message, headers, data and redirect status.
  */
-function drupal_http_request($url, $headers = array(), $method = 'GET', $data = NULL, $retry = 3) {
+function drupal_http_request($url, $headers = array(), $method = 'GET', $data = NULL, $retry = 3, $timeout = 30.0) {
   global $db_prefix;
 
   $result = new stdClass();
@@ -459,18 +469,20 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $headers = array(), $method = 'GET', $data =
     return $result;
   }
 
+  timer_start(__FUNCTION__);
+
   switch ($uri['scheme']) {
     case 'http':
     case 'feed':
       $port = isset($uri['port']) ? $uri['port'] : 80;
       $host = $uri['host'] . ($port != 80 ? ':'. $port : '');
-      $fp = @fsockopen($uri['host'], $port, $errno, $errstr, 15);
+      $fp = @fsockopen($uri['host'], $port, $errno, $errstr, $timeout);
       break;
     case 'https':
       // Note: Only works for PHP 4.3 compiled with OpenSSL.
       $port = isset($uri['port']) ? $uri['port'] : 443;
       $host = $uri['host'] . ($port != 443 ? ':'. $port : '');
-      $fp = @fsockopen('ssl://'. $uri['host'], $port, $errno, $errstr, 20);
+      $fp = @fsockopen('ssl://'. $uri['host'], $port, $errno, $errstr, $timeout);
       break;
     default:
       $result->error = 'invalid schema '. $uri['scheme'];
@@ -544,11 +556,25 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $headers = array(), $method = 'GET', $data =
 
   $result->request = $request;
 
-  fwrite($fp, $request);
+  // Calculate how much time is left of the original timeout value.
+  $time_left = $timeout - timer_read(__FUNCTION__) / 1000;
+  if ($time_left > 0) {
+    stream_set_timeout($fp, floor($time_left), floor(1000000 * fmod($time_left, 1)));
+    fwrite($fp, $request);
+  }
 
   // Fetch response.
   $response = '';
-  while (!feof($fp) && $chunk = fread($fp, 1024)) {
+  while (!feof($fp)) {
+    // Calculate how much time is left of the original timeout value.
+    $time_left = $timeout - timer_read(__FUNCTION__) / 1000;
+    if ($time_left <= 0) {
+      $result->code = HTTP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT;
+      $result->error = 'request timed out';
+      return $result;
+    }
+    stream_set_timeout($fp, floor($time_left), floor(1000000 * fmod($time_left, 1)));
+    $chunk = fread($fp, 1024);
     $response .= $chunk;
   }
   fclose($fp);
@@ -597,9 +623,13 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $headers = array(), $method = 'GET', $data =
     case 302: // Moved temporarily
     case 307: // Moved temporarily
       $location = $result->headers['Location'];
-
-      if ($retry) {
-        $result = drupal_http_request($result->headers['Location'], $headers, $method, $data, --$retry);
+      $timeout -= timer_read(__FUNCTION__) / 1000;
+      if ($timeout <= 0) {
+        $result->code = HTTP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT;
+        $result->error = 'request timed out';
+      }
+      elseif ($retry) {
+        $result = drupal_http_request($result->headers['Location'], $headers, $method, $data, --$retry, $timeout);
         $result->redirect_code = $result->code;
       }
       $result->redirect_url = $location;