diff --git a/riak/transports/connection.py b/riak/transports/connection.py
index d26b85f4..cfa23f6e 100644
--- a/riak/transports/connection.py
+++ b/riak/transports/connection.py
@@ -152,6 +152,9 @@ def _new_connection(self):
 
 class Socket(object):
 
+    # Allow extending classes to affect how sockets are created through options
+    _options = {}
+
     def __init__(self, host, port):
         self.host = host
         self.port = port
@@ -161,6 +164,8 @@ def __init__(self, host, port):
     def maybe_connect(self):
         if self.sock is None:
             self.sock = s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+            if "timeout" in self._options:
+                self.sock.settimeout(self._options["timeout"])
 
         try:
             s.connect((self.host, self.port))
diff --git a/riak/transports/pbc.py b/riak/transports/pbc.py
index 19afe85f..706f6963 100644
--- a/riak/transports/pbc.py
+++ b/riak/transports/pbc.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import errno
 import socket
 import struct
+import types
 
 try:
     import json
@@ -160,6 +161,13 @@ class RiakPbcTransport(RiakTransport):
     # The ConnectionManager class that this transport prefers.
     default_cm = connection.cm_using(SocketWithId)
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def with_timeout(timeout):
+        socket_with_timeout = type("SocketWithIdAndTimeout", (SocketWithId,), {"_options":dict(SocketWithId._options)})
+        socket_with_timeout._options["timeout"] = timeout
+        cm_with_timeout = connection.cm_using(socket_with_timeout)
+        return type("RiackPbcTransportWithTimeout", (RiakPbcTransport,), {"default_cm":cm_with_timeout})
+
     def __init__(self, cm, client_id=None, max_attempts=1, **unused_options):
         """
         Construct a new RiakPbcTransport object.