diff --git a/hiredis.c b/hiredis.c
index 970b45a..ac6dc67 100644
--- a/hiredis.c
+++ b/hiredis.c
@@ -851,6 +851,13 @@ redisContext *redisConnectUnixNonBlock(const char *path) {
     return c;
 }
 
+/* Set read/write timeout on a blocking socket. */
+int redisSetTimeout(redisContext *c, struct timeval tv) {
+    if (c->flags & REDIS_BLOCK)
+        return redisContextSetTimeout(c,tv);
+    return REDIS_ERR;
+}
+
 /* Set the replyObjectFunctions to use. Returns REDIS_ERR when the reader
  * was already initialized and the function set could not be re-set.
  * Return REDIS_OK when they could be set. */
@@ -878,7 +885,7 @@ int redisBufferRead(redisContext *c) {
     char buf[2048];
     int nread = read(c->fd,buf,sizeof(buf));
     if (nread == -1) {
-        if (errno == EAGAIN) {
+        if (errno == EAGAIN && !(c->flags & REDIS_BLOCK)) {
             /* Try again later */
         } else {
             __redisSetError(c,REDIS_ERR_IO,NULL);
@@ -909,7 +916,7 @@ int redisBufferWrite(redisContext *c, int *done) {
     if (sdslen(c->obuf) > 0) {
         nwritten = write(c->fd,c->obuf,sdslen(c->obuf));
         if (nwritten == -1) {
-            if (errno == EAGAIN) {
+            if (errno == EAGAIN && !(c->flags & REDIS_BLOCK)) {
                 /* Try again later */
             } else {
                 __redisSetError(c,REDIS_ERR_IO,NULL);
diff --git a/hiredis.h b/hiredis.h
index 8c26a8f..8fdca4a 100644
--- a/hiredis.h
+++ b/hiredis.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #define __HIREDIS_H
 #include <stdio.h> /* for size_t */
 #include <stdarg.h> /* for va_list */
+#include <sys/time.h> /* for struct timeval */
 
 #define HIREDIS_MAJOR 0
 #define HIREDIS_MINOR 9
@@ -146,6 +147,7 @@ redisContext *redisConnect(const char *ip, int port);
 redisContext *redisConnectNonBlock(const char *ip, int port);
 redisContext *redisConnectUnix(const char *path);
 redisContext *redisConnectUnixNonBlock(const char *path);
+int redisSetTimeout(redisContext *c, struct timeval tv);
 int redisSetReplyObjectFunctions(redisContext *c, redisReplyObjectFunctions *fn);
 void redisFree(redisContext *c);
 int redisBufferRead(redisContext *c);
diff --git a/net.c b/net.c
index d4a92ab..75cbe54 100644
--- a/net.c
+++ b/net.c
@@ -98,6 +98,20 @@ static int redisSetTcpNoDelay(redisContext *c, int fd) {
     return REDIS_OK;
 }
 
+int redisContextSetTimeout(redisContext *c, struct timeval tv) {
+    if (setsockopt(c->fd,SOL_SOCKET,SO_RCVTIMEO,&tv,sizeof(tv)) == -1) {
+        __redisSetError(c,REDIS_ERR_IO,
+            sdscatprintf(sdsempty(), "setsockopt(SO_RCVTIMEO): %s", strerror(errno)));
+        return REDIS_ERR;
+    }
+    if (setsockopt(c->fd,SOL_SOCKET,SO_SNDTIMEO,&tv,sizeof(tv)) == -1) {
+        __redisSetError(c,REDIS_ERR_IO,
+            sdscatprintf(sdsempty(), "setsockopt(SO_SNDTIMEO): %s", strerror(errno)));
+        return REDIS_ERR;
+    }
+    return REDIS_OK;
+}
+
 int redisContextConnectTcp(redisContext *c, const char *addr, int port) {
     int s;
     int blocking = (c->flags & REDIS_BLOCK);
diff --git a/net.h b/net.h
index 00ae32e..9d15fd2 100644
--- a/net.h
+++ b/net.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 #define AF_LOCAL AF_UNIX
 #endif
 
+int redisContextSetTimeout(redisContext *c, struct timeval tv);
 int redisContextConnectTcp(redisContext *c, const char *addr, int port);
 int redisContextConnectUnix(redisContext *c, const char *path);
 
diff --git a/test.c b/test.c
index ed355a7..9ab0354 100644
--- a/test.c
+++ b/test.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <signal.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 
 #include "hiredis.h"
 
@@ -246,9 +247,17 @@ static void test_blocking_connection() {
      * conditions, the error will be set to EOF. */
     assert(c->err == REDIS_ERR_EOF &&
         strcmp(c->errstr,"Server closed the connection") == 0);
-
-    /* Clean up context and reconnect again */
     redisFree(c);
+
+    __connect(&c);
+    test("Returns I/O error on socket timeout: ");
+    struct timeval tv = { 0, 1000 };
+    assert(redisSetTimeout(c,tv) == REDIS_OK);
+    test_cond(redisGetReply(c,(void**)&reply) == REDIS_ERR &&
+        c->err == REDIS_ERR_IO && errno == EAGAIN);
+    redisFree(c);
+
+    /* Context should be connected */
     __connect(&c);
 }