diff --git a/offlineimap.conf b/offlineimap.conf
index 01169eb..e36a44e 100644
--- a/offlineimap.conf
+++ b/offlineimap.conf
@@ -83,6 +83,19 @@ ignore-readonly = no
 # pythonfile = ~/.offlineimap.py
 #
 
+# By default, OfflineIMAP will not exit due to a network error until
+# the operating system returns an error code.  Operating systems can sometimes
+# take forever to notice this.  Here you can activate a timeout on the
+# socket.  This timeout applies to individual socket reads and writes,
+# not to an overall sync operation.  You could perfectly well have a 30s
+# timeout here and your sync still take minutes.
+#
+# Values in the 30-120 second range are reasonable.
+#
+# The default is to have no timeout beyond the OS.  Times are given in seconds.
+#
+# socktimeout = 60
+
 ##################################################
 # Mailbox name recorder
 ##################################################
diff --git a/offlineimap/init.py b/offlineimap/init.py
index 0cd6bfd..3ff343e 100644
--- a/offlineimap/init.py
+++ b/offlineimap/init.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from offlineimap.ui import UIBase
 import re, os, os.path, offlineimap, sys
 from offlineimap.CustomConfig import CustomConfigParser
 from threading import *
-import threading
+import threading, socket
 from getopt import getopt
 
 try:
@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ def startup(versionno):
         if options.has_key('-l'):
             sys.stderr = ui.logfile
 
+        socktimeout = config.getdefaultint("general", "socktimeout", 0)
+        if socktimeout > 0:
+            socket.setdefaulttimeout(socktimeout)
+
         activeaccounts = config.get("general", "accounts")
         if options.has_key('-a'):
             activeaccounts = options['-a']