diff --git a/etc/pyca.conf b/etc/pyca.conf
index 5124eda3..f4c85a82 100644
--- a/etc/pyca.conf
+++ b/etc/pyca.conf
@@ -278,3 +278,19 @@ password         = 'CHANGE_ME'
 # Log format configuration
 # Default: [%(name)s:%(lineno)s:%(funcName)s()] [%(levelname)s] %(message)s
 #format           = [%(name)s:%(lineno)s:%(funcName)s()] [%(levelname)s] %(message)s
+
+
+[http]
+
+# Number of seconds after which non-upload HTTP requests will time out.
+# Note that this is the total request duration including the establishment of the connection. Also see
+# connection_timeout to set a timeout for the latter. Setting this to 0 will disable a time out for HTTP requests.
+# HTTP requests that ingest files will not time out.
+# Default: 300
+#timeout          = 300
+
+# Number of seconds after which the connection establishment of HTTP requests will time out.
+# This applies to all HTTP requests pyCA will make including upload requests. The connection is considered established
+# after the TCP, TLS or QUIC handshakes.
+# Default: 180
+#connection_timeout = 180
diff --git a/pyca/config.py b/pyca/config.py
index 959abe16..43b3340b 100644
--- a/pyca/config.py
+++ b/pyca/config.py
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@
 level            = option('debug', 'info', 'warning', 'error', default='info')
 format           = string(default='[%(name)s:%(lineno)s:%(funcName)s()] [%(levelname)s] %(message)s')
 
+[http]
+timeout          = integer(min=0, default=300)
+connection_timeout = integer(min=0, default=180)
+
 [services]
 '''  # noqa
 
diff --git a/pyca/ingest.py b/pyca/ingest.py
index 5e984062..6b585f2f 100644
--- a/pyca/ingest.py
+++ b/pyca/ingest.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ def ingest(event):
 
     # create mediapackage
     logger.info('Creating new mediapackage')
-    mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/createMediaPackage')
+    mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/createMediaPackage', timeout=0)
 
     # extract workflow_def, workflow_config and add DC catalogs
     prop = 'org.opencastproject.capture.agent.properties'
@@ -78,7 +78,8 @@ def ingest(event):
             fields = [('mediaPackage', mediapackage),
                       ('flavor', 'dublincore/%s' % name),
                       ('dublinCore', data.encode('utf-8'))]
-            mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/addDCCatalog', fields)
+            mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/addDCCatalog', fields,
+                                        timeout=0)
 
         else:
             logger.info('Not uploading %s', attachment.get('x-apple-filename'))
@@ -90,7 +91,8 @@ def ingest(event):
         track = track.encode('ascii', 'ignore')
         fields = [('mediaPackage', mediapackage), ('flavor', flavor),
                   ('BODY1', (pycurl.FORM_FILE, track))]
-        mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/addTrack', fields)
+        mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/addTrack', fields,
+                                    timeout=0)
 
     # ingest
     logger.info('Ingest recording')
@@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ def ingest(event):
         fields.append(('workflowInstanceId',
                        event.uid.encode('ascii', 'ignore')))
     fields += workflow_config
-    mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/ingest', fields)
+    mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/ingest', fields, timeout=0)
 
     # Update status
     recording_state(event.uid, 'upload_finished')
diff --git a/pyca/ui/opencast_commands.py b/pyca/ui/opencast_commands.py
index a9cebdb1..573c9571 100644
--- a/pyca/ui/opencast_commands.py
+++ b/pyca/ui/opencast_commands.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def schedule(title='pyCA Recording', duration=60, creator=None):
 
     # create media package
     logger.info('Creating new media package')
-    mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/createMediaPackage')
+    mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/createMediaPackage', timeout=0)
 
     # add dublin core catalog
     start = datetime.utcnow() + timedelta(seconds=10)
@@ -68,12 +68,13 @@ def schedule(title='pyCA Recording', duration=60, creator=None):
     fields = [('mediaPackage', mediapackage),
               ('flavor', 'dublincore/episode'),
               ('dublinCore', dublincore)]
-    mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/addDCCatalog', fields)
+    mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/addDCCatalog', fields,
+                                timeout=0)
 
     # schedule event
     logger.info('Scheduling recording')
     fields = [('mediaPackage', mediapackage)]
-    mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/schedule', fields)
+    mediapackage = http_request(service_url + '/schedule', fields, timeout=0)
 
     # Update status
     logger.info('Event successfully scheduled')
diff --git a/pyca/utils.py b/pyca/utils.py
index e7783d19..56169419 100644
--- a/pyca/utils.py
+++ b/pyca/utils.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def http_request(url, post_data=None):
+def http_request(url, post_data=None, timeout=None):
     '''Make an HTTP request to a given URL with optional parameters.
     '''
     logger.debug('Requesting URL: %s', url)
@@ -54,6 +54,12 @@ def http_request(url, post_data=None):
             curl.MAX_SEND_SPEED_LARGE,
             config('ingest', 'upload_rate'))
 
+    curl.setopt(curl.CONNECTTIMEOUT, config('http', 'connection_timeout'))
+    if timeout is not None:
+        curl.setopt(curl.TIMEOUT, timeout)
+    else:
+        curl.setopt(curl.TIMEOUT, config('http', 'timeout'))
+
     if post_data:
         curl.setopt(curl.HTTPPOST, post_data)
     curl.setopt(curl.WRITEFUNCTION, buf.write)
diff --git a/tests/test_agentstate.py b/tests/test_agentstate.py
index f4a5e4df..0f56a336 100644
--- a/tests/test_agentstate.py
+++ b/tests/test_agentstate.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 class TestPycaAgentState(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False: b'xxx'
+        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False, timeout=0: b'xxx'
         self.fd, self.dbfile = tempfile.mkstemp()
         config.config()['agent']['database'] = 'sqlite:///' + self.dbfile
         config.config()['service-capture.admin'] = ['']
diff --git a/tests/test_capture.py b/tests/test_capture.py
index fa2193e8..5ad6560b 100644
--- a/tests/test_capture.py
+++ b/tests/test_capture.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 class TestPycaCapture(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False: b'xxx'
+        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False, timeout=0: b'xxx'
         self.fd, self.dbfile = tempfile.mkstemp()
         self.cadir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
         preview = os.path.join(self.cadir, 'preview.png')
diff --git a/tests/test_ingest.py b/tests/test_ingest.py
index 9a7966ef..6dab4008 100644
--- a/tests/test_ingest.py
+++ b/tests/test_ingest.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 class TestPycaIngest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        ingest.http_request = lambda x, y=False: b'xxx'
+        ingest.http_request = lambda x, y=False, timeout=0: b'xxx'
         self.fd, self.dbfile = tempfile.mkstemp()
         self.cadir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
         config.config('agent')['database'] = 'sqlite:///' + self.dbfile
diff --git a/tests/test_schedule.py b/tests/test_schedule.py
index 542c58cc..6452f6a9 100644
--- a/tests/test_schedule.py
+++ b/tests/test_schedule.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ class TestPycaCapture(unittest.TestCase):
         END:VCALENDAR''' % END).replace('\n        ', '\r\n').encode('utf-8')
 
     def setUp(self):
-        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False: b'xxx'
+        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False, timeout=0: b'xxx'
         self.fd, self.dbfile = tempfile.mkstemp()
         config.config()['agent']['database'] = 'sqlite:///' + self.dbfile
         config.config()['services']['org.opencastproject.scheduler'] = ['']
diff --git a/tests/test_ui_opencast_commands.py b/tests/test_ui_opencast_commands.py
index 730c4e9f..19df300e 100644
--- a/tests/test_ui_opencast_commands.py
+++ b/tests/test_ui_opencast_commands.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 class TestPycaIngest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        opencast_commands.http_request = lambda x, y=False: b'xxx'
+        opencast_commands.http_request = lambda x, y=False, timeout=0: b'xxx'
         opencast_commands.service = lambda x, force_update=False: ['']
 
     def test_schedule_defaults(self):
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index 24717a59..23aff295 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def test_get_service(self):
                         "error_state_trigger":0,
                         "warning_state_trigger":0}}}'''.encode('utf-8')
         # Mock http_request method
-        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False: res
+        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False, timeout=0: res
         endpoint = u'https://octestallinone.virtuos.uos.de/capture-admin'
         self.assertEqual(utils.get_service(''), [endpoint])
 
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ def test_http_request_mocked_curl(self):
         reload(utils.pycurl)
 
     def test_register_ca(self):
-        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False: b'xxx'
+        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False, timeout=0: b'xxx'
         utils.register_ca()
         utils.http_request = should_fail
         utils.register_ca()
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ def test_register_ca(self):
         utils.register_ca()
 
     def test_recording_state(self):
-        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False: b''
+        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False, timeout=0: b''
         utils.recording_state('123', 'recording')
         utils.http_request = should_fail
         utils.recording_state('123', 'recording')
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ def test_recording_state(self):
         utils.recording_state('123', 'recording')
 
     def test_set_service_status_immediate(self):
-        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False: b''
+        utils.http_request = lambda x, y=False, timeout=0: b''
         utils.set_service_status_immediate(db.Service.SCHEDULE,
                                            db.ServiceStatus.IDLE)
         utils.set_service_status_immediate(db.Service.INGEST,
diff --git a/tests/tools.py b/tests/tools.py
index bb8a9b8a..bfdb29b7 100644
--- a/tests/tools.py
+++ b/tests/tools.py
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ class CurlMock():
     FAILONERROR = 11
     FOLLOWLOCATION = 12
     MAX_SEND_SPEED_LARGE = 13
+    CONNECTTIMEOUT = 14
+    TIMEOUT = 15
 
     def setopt(self, *args):
         pass