diff --git a/swiftclient/service.py b/swiftclient/service.py
index 4a7b1205..9d9fc594 100644
--- a/swiftclient/service.py
+++ b/swiftclient/service.py
@@ -273,6 +273,7 @@ def get_conn(options):
     return Connection(options['auth'],
                       options['user'],
                       options['key'],
+                      timeout=options.get('timeout'),
                       retries=options['retries'],
                       auth_version=options['auth_version'],
                       os_options=options['os_options'],
diff --git a/swiftclient/shell.py b/swiftclient/shell.py
index a16de884..df7c5115 100755
--- a/swiftclient/shell.py
+++ b/swiftclient/shell.py
@@ -1728,6 +1728,9 @@ def add_default_args(parser):
     parser.add_argument('-K', '--key', dest='key',
                         default=environ.get('ST_KEY'),
                         help='Key for obtaining an auth token.')
+    parser.add_argument('-T', '--timeout', type=int, dest='timeout',
+                        default=None,
+                        help='Timeout in seconds to wait for response.')
     parser.add_argument('-R', '--retries', type=int, default=5, dest='retries',
                         help='The number of times to retry a failed '
                              'connection.')