diff --git a/acme_tiny.py b/acme_tiny.py
index d992d02d..19890038 100755
--- a/acme_tiny.py
+++ b/acme_tiny.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def _cmd(cmd_list, stdin=None, cmd_input=None, err_msg="Command Line Error"):
     # helper function - make request and automatically parse json response
     def _do_request(url, data=None, err_msg="Error", depth=0):
         try:
-            resp = urlopen(Request(url, data=data, headers={"Content-Type": "application/jose+json", "User-Agent": "acme-tiny"}))
+            resp = urlopen(Request(url, data=data, headers={"Content-Type": "application/jose+json", "User-Agent": "acme-tiny"}), timeout=5)
             resp_data, code, headers = resp.read().decode("utf8"), resp.getcode(), resp.headers
         except IOError as e:
             resp_data = e.read().decode("utf8") if hasattr(e, "read") else str(e)