diff --git a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go
index 9fe43aa5397..35060c15e17 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-apiserver/app/server.go
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ func NewAPIServer() *APIServer {
 		KubeletConfig: client.KubeletConfig{
 			Port:        10250,
 			EnableHttps: false,
+			HTTPTimeout: time.Duration(5) * time.Second,
 		},
 	}
 
diff --git a/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/controllermanager.go b/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/controllermanager.go
index 0d2a63bdf94..0f48884c14f 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/controllermanager.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/controllermanager.go
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ func NewCMServer() *CMServer {
 		KubeletConfig: client.KubeletConfig{
 			Port:        ports.KubeletPort,
 			EnableHttps: false,
+			HTTPTimeout: time.Duration(5) * time.Second,
 		},
 	}
 	return &s
diff --git a/pkg/client/flags.go b/pkg/client/flags.go
index cd2faa2657e..4ad32a6cffa 100644
--- a/pkg/client/flags.go
+++ b/pkg/client/flags.go
@@ -16,12 +16,17 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 package client
 
+import (
+	"time"
+)
+
 // FlagSet abstracts the flag interface for compatibility with both Golang "flag"
 // and cobra pflags (Posix style).
 type FlagSet interface {
 	StringVar(p *string, name, value, usage string)
 	BoolVar(p *bool, name string, value bool, usage string)
 	UintVar(p *uint, name string, value uint, usage string)
+	DurationVar(p *time.Duration, name string, value time.Duration, usage string)
 }
 
 // BindClientConfigFlags registers a standard set of CLI flags for connecting to a Kubernetes API server.
@@ -38,6 +43,7 @@ func BindClientConfigFlags(flags FlagSet, config *Config) {
 func BindKubeletClientConfigFlags(flags FlagSet, config *KubeletConfig) {
 	flags.BoolVar(&config.EnableHttps, "kubelet_https", config.EnableHttps, "Use https for kubelet connections")
 	flags.UintVar(&config.Port, "kubelet_port", config.Port, "Kubelet port")
+	flags.DurationVar(&config.HTTPTimeout, "kubelet_timeout", config.HTTPTimeout, "Timeout for kubelet operations")
 	flags.StringVar(&config.CertFile, "kubelet_client_certificate", config.CertFile, "Path to a client key file for TLS.")
 	flags.StringVar(&config.KeyFile, "kubelet_client_key", config.KeyFile, "Path to a client key file for TLS.")
 	flags.StringVar(&config.CAFile, "kubelet_certificate_authority", config.CAFile, "Path to a cert. file for the certificate authority.")
diff --git a/pkg/client/flags_test.go b/pkg/client/flags_test.go
index 115ddb12b0d..37bebbd00f7 100644
--- a/pkg/client/flags_test.go
+++ b/pkg/client/flags_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package client
 
 import (
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
 )
@@ -57,6 +58,16 @@ func (f *fakeFlagSet) UintVar(p *uint, name string, value uint, usage string) {
 	f.set.Insert(name)
 }
 
+func (f *fakeFlagSet) DurationVar(p *time.Duration, name string, value time.Duration, usage string) {
+	if p == nil {
+		f.t.Errorf("unexpected nil pointer")
+	}
+	if usage == "" {
+		f.t.Errorf("unexpected empty usage")
+	}
+	f.set.Insert(name)
+}
+
 func TestBindClientConfigFlags(t *testing.T) {
 	flags := &fakeFlagSet{t, util.StringSet{}}
 	config := &Config{}
@@ -70,7 +81,7 @@ func TestBindKubeletClientConfigFlags(t *testing.T) {
 	flags := &fakeFlagSet{t, util.StringSet{}}
 	config := &KubeletConfig{}
 	BindKubeletClientConfigFlags(flags, config)
-	if len(flags.set) != 5 {
+	if len(flags.set) != 6 {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected flag set: %#v", flags)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/client/helper.go b/pkg/client/helper.go
index ac3dce0dd3a..771031375d5 100644
--- a/pkg/client/helper.go
+++ b/pkg/client/helper.go
@@ -86,6 +86,9 @@ type KubeletConfig struct {
 
 	// TLSClientConfig contains settings to enable transport layer security
 	TLSClientConfig
+
+	// HTTPTimeout is used by the client to timeout http requests to Kubelet.
+	HTTPTimeout time.Duration
 }
 
 // TLSClientConfig contains settings to enable transport layer security
diff --git a/pkg/client/kubelet.go b/pkg/client/kubelet.go
index b7c8aca7d22..07e34f8e8e3 100644
--- a/pkg/client/kubelet.go
+++ b/pkg/client/kubelet.go
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ func NewKubeletClient(config *KubeletConfig) (KubeletClient, error) {
 
 	c := &http.Client{
 		Transport: transport,
+		Timeout:   config.HTTPTimeout,
 	}
 	return &HTTPKubeletClient{
 		Client:      c,