diff --git a/os_refresh_config/os_refresh_config.py b/os_refresh_config/os_refresh_config.py
index 4704319..e50776a 100755
--- a/os_refresh_config/os_refresh_config.py
+++ b/os_refresh_config/os_refresh_config.py
@@ -18,10 +18,13 @@ import argparse
 import fcntl
 import logging
 import os
+import signal
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import time
 
+import psutil
+
 OLD_BASE_DIR = '/opt/stack/os-config-refresh'
 DEFAULT_BASE_DIR = '/usr/libexec/os-refresh-config'
 
@@ -55,6 +58,21 @@ PHASES = ['pre-configure',
           'migration']
 
 
+def timeout():
+    p = psutil.Process()
+    children = list(p.get_children(recursive=True))
+    for child in children:
+        child.kill()
+
+
+def exit(lock, statuscode=0):
+    signal.alarm(0)
+    if lock:
+        lock.truncate(0)
+        lock.close()
+    return statuscode
+
+
 def main(argv=sys.argv):
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
         description="""Runs through all of the phases to ensure
@@ -72,6 +90,10 @@ def main(argv=sys.argv):
     parser.add_argument('--lockfile',
                         default='/var/run/os-refresh-config.lock',
                         help='Lock file to prevent multiple running copies.')
+    parser.add_argument('--timeout',
+                        type=int,
+                        help='Seconds until the current run will be '
+                             'terminated.')
     options = parser.parse_args(argv[1:])
 
     if options.print_base:
@@ -101,6 +123,15 @@ def main(argv=sys.argv):
     lock.truncate(0)
     lock.write("Locked by pid==%d at %s\n" % (os.getpid(), time.localtime()))
 
+    def timeout_handler(signum, frame):
+        log.error('Timeout reached: %ss. Sending SIGKILL to all children' %
+                  options.timeout)
+        timeout()
+
+    if options.timeout:
+        signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, timeout_handler)
+        signal.alarm(options.timeout)
+
     for phase in PHASES:
         phase_dir = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, '%s.d' % phase)
         log.debug('Checking %s' % phase_dir)
@@ -124,13 +155,11 @@ def main(argv=sys.argv):
                     except OSError:
                         pass
                 log.error("Aborting...")
-                return 1
+                return exit(lock, 1)
         else:
             log.debug('No dir for phase %s' % phase)
 
-    lock.truncate(0)
-    lock.close()
-    return 0
+    return exit(lock)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/os_refresh_config/tests/test_cmd.py b/os_refresh_config/tests/test_cmd.py
index cfc7f04..49038a8 100644
--- a/os_refresh_config/tests/test_cmd.py
+++ b/os_refresh_config/tests/test_cmd.py
@@ -116,7 +116,6 @@ exit %(returncode)s
         self._write_script('pre-configure', '20-pre-second', 99)
         self._write_script('configure', '10-conf-first', 0)
         returncode, stdout, stderr = self._run_orc()
-        print(stderr)
         self.assertEqual('\n'.join([
             '10-pre-first starting',
             '10-pre-first done',
@@ -126,6 +125,22 @@ exit %(returncode)s
         ]), stdout)
         self.assertEqual(1, returncode)
 
+    def test_cmd_with_timeout(self):
+        self._write_script('pre-configure', '10-pre-first', 0, 5)
+        self._write_script('pre-configure', '20-pre-second', 0, 5)
+        self._write_script('configure', '10-conf-first', 0, 5)
+
+        now = time.time()
+        returncode, stdout, stderr = self._run_orc('--timeout', '2',
+                                                   '--log-level', 'DEBUG')
+        # check run time accounts for the 2 seconds timeout
+        self.assertTrue(time.time() - now >= 2.0)
+        self.assertEqual('\n'.join([
+            '10-pre-first starting',
+            '',
+        ]), stdout)
+        self.assertEqual(1, returncode)
+
     def test_debug(self):
         returncode, stdout, stderr = self._run_orc('--log-level', 'DEBUG')
         self.assertEqual('', stdout)
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index d3eb0ec..c44400e 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@
 # process, which may cause wedges in the gate later.
 pbr>=1.6 # Apache-2.0
 dib-utils  # Apache-2.0
+psutil>=1.1.1,<2.0.0  # BSD