diff --git a/cmd/kube-apiserver/apiserver.go b/cmd/kube-apiserver/apiserver.go
index f3b175b9251..2d16448d306 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-apiserver/apiserver.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-apiserver/apiserver.go
@@ -20,8 +20,10 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"math/rand"
 	"os"
 	"runtime"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/cmd/kube-apiserver/app"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
@@ -32,6 +34,8 @@ import (
 
 func main() {
 	runtime.GOMAXPROCS(runtime.NumCPU())
+	rand.Seed(time.Now().UTC().UnixNano())
+
 	s := app.NewAPIServer()
 	s.AddFlags(pflag.CommandLine)
 
diff --git a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go
index 3939b6711a6..a70ca1ded1a 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go
@@ -46,6 +46,12 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
 )
 
+const (
+	// Maximum duration before timing out read/write requests
+	// Set to a value larger than the timeouts in each watch server.
+	ReadWriteTimeout = time.Minute * 60
+)
+
 // APIServer runs a kubernetes api server.
 type APIServer struct {
 	InsecureBindAddress        util.IP
@@ -393,8 +399,8 @@ func (s *APIServer) Run(_ []string) error {
 		readOnlyServer := &http.Server{
 			Addr:           roLocation,
 			Handler:        apiserver.MaxInFlightLimit(sem, longRunningRE, apiserver.RecoverPanics(apiserver.ReadOnly(apiserver.RateLimit(rl, m.InsecureHandler)))),
-			ReadTimeout:    5 * time.Minute,
-			WriteTimeout:   5 * time.Minute,
+			ReadTimeout:    ReadWriteTimeout,
+			WriteTimeout:   ReadWriteTimeout,
 			MaxHeaderBytes: 1 << 20,
 		}
 		glog.Infof("Serving read-only insecurely on %s", roLocation)
@@ -413,8 +419,8 @@ func (s *APIServer) Run(_ []string) error {
 		secureServer := &http.Server{
 			Addr:           secureLocation,
 			Handler:        apiserver.MaxInFlightLimit(sem, longRunningRE, apiserver.RecoverPanics(m.Handler)),
-			ReadTimeout:    5 * time.Minute,
-			WriteTimeout:   5 * time.Minute,
+			ReadTimeout:    ReadWriteTimeout,
+			WriteTimeout:   ReadWriteTimeout,
 			MaxHeaderBytes: 1 << 20,
 			TLSConfig: &tls.Config{
 				// Change default from SSLv3 to TLSv1.0 (because of POODLE vulnerability)
@@ -454,12 +460,11 @@ func (s *APIServer) Run(_ []string) error {
 			}
 		}()
 	}
-
 	http := &http.Server{
 		Addr:           insecureLocation,
 		Handler:        apiserver.RecoverPanics(m.InsecureHandler),
-		ReadTimeout:    5 * time.Minute,
-		WriteTimeout:   5 * time.Minute,
+		ReadTimeout:    ReadWriteTimeout,
+		WriteTimeout:   ReadWriteTimeout,
 		MaxHeaderBytes: 1 << 20,
 	}
 	glog.Infof("Serving insecurely on %s", insecureLocation)
diff --git a/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go b/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
index 68e81092608..61d39d91ba2 100644
--- a/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
+++ b/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
@@ -132,6 +132,14 @@ type APIGroupVersion struct {
 	Context api.RequestContextMapper
 }
 
+// TODO: Pipe these in through the apiserver cmd line
+const (
+	// Minimum duration before timing out read/write requests
+	MinTimeoutSecs = 300
+	// Maximum duration before timing out read/write requests
+	MaxTimeoutSecs = 600
+)
+
 // InstallREST registers the REST handlers (storage, watch, proxy and redirect) into a restful Container.
 // It is expected that the provided path root prefix will serve all operations. Root MUST NOT end
 // in a slash. A restful WebService is created for the group and version.
diff --git a/pkg/apiserver/watch.go b/pkg/apiserver/watch.go
index b554f3047e1..83c171b7b03 100644
--- a/pkg/apiserver/watch.go
+++ b/pkg/apiserver/watch.go
@@ -17,10 +17,12 @@ limitations under the License.
 package apiserver
 
 import (
+	"math/rand"
 	"net/http"
 	"reflect"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/httplog"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/runtime"
@@ -32,19 +34,47 @@ import (
 	"golang.org/x/net/websocket"
 )
 
-var connectionUpgradeRegex = regexp.MustCompile("(^|.*,\\s*)upgrade($|\\s*,)")
+var (
+	connectionUpgradeRegex = regexp.MustCompile("(^|.*,\\s*)upgrade($|\\s*,)")
+
+	// nothing will ever be sent down this channel
+	neverExitWatch <-chan time.Time = make(chan time.Time)
+)
 
 func isWebsocketRequest(req *http.Request) bool {
 	return connectionUpgradeRegex.MatchString(strings.ToLower(req.Header.Get("Connection"))) && strings.ToLower(req.Header.Get("Upgrade")) == "websocket"
 }
 
+// timeoutFactory abstracts watch timeout logic for testing
+type timeoutFactory interface {
+	TimeoutCh() (<-chan time.Time, func() bool)
+}
+
+// realTimeoutFactory implements timeoutFactory
+type realTimeoutFactory struct {
+	timeout time.Duration
+}
+
+// TimeoutChan returns a channel which will receive something when the watch times out,
+// and a cleanup function to call when this happens.
+func (w *realTimeoutFactory) TimeoutCh() (<-chan time.Time, func() bool) {
+	if w.timeout == 0 {
+		return neverExitWatch, func() bool { return false }
+	}
+	t := time.NewTimer(w.timeout)
+	return t.C, t.Stop
+}
+
 // serveWatch handles serving requests to the server
 func serveWatch(watcher watch.Interface, scope RequestScope, w http.ResponseWriter, req *restful.Request) {
+	// Each watch gets a random timeout to avoid thundering herds. Rand is seeded once in the api installer.
+	timeout := time.Duration(MinTimeoutSecs+rand.Intn(MaxTimeoutSecs-MinTimeoutSecs)) * time.Second
+
 	watchServer := &WatchServer{watcher, scope.Codec, func(obj runtime.Object) {
 		if err := setSelfLink(obj, req, scope.Namer); err != nil {
 			glog.V(5).Infof("Failed to set self link for object %v: %v", reflect.TypeOf(obj), err)
 		}
-	}}
+	}, &realTimeoutFactory{timeout}}
 	if isWebsocketRequest(req.Request) {
 		websocket.Handler(watchServer.HandleWS).ServeHTTP(httplog.Unlogged(w), req.Request)
 	} else {
@@ -57,6 +87,7 @@ type WatchServer struct {
 	watching watch.Interface
 	codec    runtime.Codec
 	fixup    func(runtime.Object)
+	t        timeoutFactory
 }
 
 // HandleWS implements a websocket handler.
@@ -100,6 +131,9 @@ func (w *WatchServer) HandleWS(ws *websocket.Conn) {
 func (self *WatchServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	loggedW := httplog.LogOf(req, w)
 	w = httplog.Unlogged(w)
+	timeoutCh, cleanup := self.t.TimeoutCh()
+	defer cleanup()
+	defer self.watching.Stop()
 
 	cn, ok := w.(http.CloseNotifier)
 	if !ok {
@@ -113,16 +147,15 @@ func (self *WatchServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 		http.NotFound(w, req)
 		return
 	}
-
 	w.Header().Set("Transfer-Encoding", "chunked")
 	w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
 	flusher.Flush()
-
 	encoder := watchjson.NewEncoder(w, self.codec)
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-cn.CloseNotify():
-			self.watching.Stop()
+			return
+		case <-timeoutCh:
 			return
 		case event, ok := <-self.watching.ResultChan():
 			if !ok {
@@ -132,7 +165,6 @@ func (self *WatchServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 			self.fixup(event.Object)
 			if err := encoder.Encode(&event); err != nil {
 				// Client disconnect.
-				self.watching.Stop()
 				return
 			}
 			flusher.Flush()
diff --git a/pkg/apiserver/watch_test.go b/pkg/apiserver/watch_test.go
index 4cab1565c3e..501f829219d 100644
--- a/pkg/apiserver/watch_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apiserver/watch_test.go
@@ -18,11 +18,13 @@ package apiserver
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"net/url"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/api/rest"
@@ -278,4 +280,71 @@ func TestWatchProtocolSelection(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("Unexpected response %#v", response)
 		}
 	}
+
+}
+
+type fakeTimeoutFactory struct {
+	timeoutCh chan time.Time
+	done      chan struct{}
+}
+
+func (t *fakeTimeoutFactory) TimeoutCh() (<-chan time.Time, func() bool) {
+	return t.timeoutCh, func() bool {
+		defer close(t.done)
+		return true
+	}
+}
+
+func TestWatchHTTPTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+	watcher := watch.NewFake()
+	timeoutCh := make(chan time.Time)
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+
+	// Setup a new watchserver
+	watchServer := &WatchServer{
+		watcher,
+		version2ServerCodec,
+		func(obj runtime.Object) {},
+		&fakeTimeoutFactory{timeoutCh, done},
+	}
+
+	s := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
+		watchServer.ServeHTTP(w, req)
+	}))
+	defer s.Close()
+
+	// Setup a client
+	dest, _ := url.Parse(s.URL)
+	dest.Path = "/api/version/watch/resource"
+	dest.RawQuery = ""
+
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", dest.String(), nil)
+	client := http.Client{}
+	resp, err := client.Do(req)
+	watcher.Add(&api.Pod{TypeMeta: api.TypeMeta{APIVersion: "v1beta3"}})
+
+	// Make sure we can actually watch an endpoint
+	decoder := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body)
+	var got watchJSON
+	err = decoder.Decode(&got)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Timeout and check for leaks
+	close(timeoutCh)
+	select {
+	case <-done:
+		if !watcher.Stopped {
+			t.Errorf("Leaked watch on timeout")
+		}
+	case <-time.After(100 * time.Millisecond):
+		t.Errorf("Failed to stop watcher after 100ms of timeout signal")
+	}
+
+	// Make sure we can't receive any more events through the timeout watch
+	err = decoder.Decode(&got)
+	if err != io.EOF {
+		t.Errorf("Unexpected non-error")
+	}
 }