diff --git a/Sources/NIO/Channel.swift b/Sources/NIO/Channel.swift
index da414047..3b706c7d 100644
--- a/Sources/NIO/Channel.swift
+++ b/Sources/NIO/Channel.swift
@@ -531,6 +531,9 @@ private extension FileRegion {
 /// - note: All operations on `SocketChannel` are thread-safe.
 final class SocketChannel: BaseSocketChannel<Socket> {
 
+    private var connectTimeout = TimeAmount.seconds(10)
+    private var connectTimeoutScheduled: Scheduled<Void>?
+
     init(eventLoop: SelectableEventLoop, protocolFamily: Int32) throws {
         let socket = try Socket(protocolFamily: protocolFamily)
         do {
@@ -542,6 +545,26 @@ final class SocketChannel: BaseSocketChannel<Socket> {
         try super.init(socket: socket, eventLoop: eventLoop)
     }
 
+    override fileprivate func setOption0<T: ChannelOption>(option: T, value: T.OptionType) throws {
+        assert(eventLoop.inEventLoop)
+        switch option {
+        case _ as ConnectTimeoutOption:
+            connectTimeout = value as! TimeAmount
+        default:
+            try super.setOption0(option: option, value: value)
+        }
+    }
+    
+    override fileprivate func getOption0<T: ChannelOption>(option: T) throws -> T.OptionType {
+        assert(eventLoop.inEventLoop)
+        switch option {
+        case _ as ConnectTimeoutOption:
+            return connectTimeout as! T.OptionType
+        default:
+            return try super.getOption0(option: option)
+        }
+    }
+    
     public override func registrationFor(interested: IOEvent) -> NIORegistration {
         return .socketChannel(self, interested)
     }
@@ -632,13 +655,36 @@ final class SocketChannel: BaseSocketChannel<Socket> {
     }
 
     override fileprivate func connectSocket(to address: SocketAddress) throws -> Bool {
-        return try self.socket.connect(to: address)
+        if try self.socket.connect(to: address) {
+            return true
+        }
+        let timeout = connectTimeout
+        connectTimeoutScheduled = eventLoop.scheduleTask(in: timeout) { () -> (Void) in
+            if self.pendingConnect != nil {
+                // The connection was still not established, close the Channel which will also fail the pending promise.
+                self.close0(error: ChannelError.connectTimeout(timeout), promise: nil)
+            }
+        }
+        return false
     }
 
     override fileprivate func finishConnectSocket() throws {
+        if let scheduled = connectTimeoutScheduled {
+            // Connection established so cancel the previous scheduled timeout.
+            connectTimeoutScheduled = nil
+            scheduled.cancel()
+        }
         try self.socket.finishConnect()
         becomeActive0()
     }
+    
+    override func close0(error: Error, promise: EventLoopPromise<Void>?) {
+        if let timeout = connectTimeoutScheduled {
+            connectTimeoutScheduled = nil
+            timeout.cancel()
+        }
+        super.close0(error: error, promise: promise)
+    }
 }
 
 /// A `Channel` for a server socket.
@@ -912,7 +958,7 @@ class BaseSocketChannel<T : BaseSocket> : SelectableChannel, ChannelCore {
     private let pendingWrites: PendingWritesManager
     fileprivate var readPending = false
     private var neverRegistered = true
-    private var pendingConnect: EventLoopPromise<Void>?
+    fileprivate var pendingConnect: EventLoopPromise<Void>?
     private let closePromise: EventLoopPromise<Void>
     private var active: Atomic<Bool> = Atomic(value: false)
     public var isActive: Bool {
@@ -1152,7 +1198,7 @@ class BaseSocketChannel<T : BaseSocket> : SelectableChannel, ChannelCore {
         }
     }
 
-    public final func close0(error: Error, promise: EventLoopPromise<Void>?) {
+    public func close0(error: Error, promise: EventLoopPromise<Void>?) {
         assert(eventLoop.inEventLoop)
 
         if closed {
@@ -1421,7 +1467,10 @@ class BaseSocketChannel<T : BaseSocket> : SelectableChannel, ChannelCore {
 public enum ChannelError: Error {
     /// Tried to connect on a `Channel` that is already connecting.
     case connectPending
-    
+
+    /// Connect operation timed out
+    case connectTimeout(TimeAmount)
+
     /// Unsupported operation triggered on a `Channel`. For example `connect` on a `ServerSocketChannel`.
     case operationUnsupported
     
@@ -1435,3 +1484,25 @@ public enum ChannelError: Error {
     /// open locally.
     case eof
 }
+
+extension ChannelError: Equatable {
+    public static func ==(lhs: ChannelError, rhs: ChannelError) -> Bool {
+        switch (lhs, rhs) {
+        case (.connectPending, .connectPending):
+            return true
+        case (.connectTimeout(_), .connectTimeout(_)):
+            return true
+        case (.operationUnsupported, .operationUnsupported):
+            return true
+        case (.ioOnClosedChannel, .ioOnClosedChannel):
+            return true
+        case (.alreadyClosed, .alreadyClosed):
+            return true
+        case (.eof, .eof):
+            return true
+        default:
+            return false
+        }
+    }
+}
+
diff --git a/Sources/NIO/ChannelOption.swift b/Sources/NIO/ChannelOption.swift
index a96ab402..d5b63d50 100644
--- a/Sources/NIO/ChannelOption.swift
+++ b/Sources/NIO/ChannelOption.swift
@@ -139,6 +139,15 @@ public enum WriteBufferWaterMarkOption: ChannelOption {
     case const(())
 }
 
+/// `ConnectTimeoutOption` allows to configure the `TimeAmount` after which a connect will fail if it was not established in the meantime.
+public enum ConnectTimeoutOption: ChannelOption {
+    public typealias AssociatedValueType = ()
+    public typealias OptionType = TimeAmount
+    
+    case const(())
+}
+
+
 /// Provides `ChannelOption`s to be used with a `Channel`, `Bootstrap` or `ServerBootstrap`.
 public struct ChannelOptions {
     /// - seealso: `SocketOption`.
@@ -164,4 +173,7 @@ public struct ChannelOptions {
     
     /// - seealso: `WriteBufferWaterMarkOption`.
     public static let writeBufferWaterMark = WriteBufferWaterMarkOption.const(())
+    
+    /// - seealso: `ConnectTimeoutOption`.
+    public static let connectTimeout = ConnectTimeoutOption.const(())
 }
diff --git a/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelTests+XCTest.swift b/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelTests+XCTest.swift
index a9686a53..4cd7cdf1 100644
--- a/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelTests+XCTest.swift
+++ b/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelTests+XCTest.swift
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ extension ChannelTests {
                 ("testPendingWritesCloseDuringVectorWrite", testPendingWritesCloseDuringVectorWrite),
                 ("testPendingWritesMoreThanWritevIOVectorLimit", testPendingWritesMoreThanWritevIOVectorLimit),
                 ("testPendingWritesIsHappyWhenSendfileReturnsWouldBlockButWroteFully", testPendingWritesIsHappyWhenSendfileReturnsWouldBlockButWroteFully),
+                ("testConnectTimeout", testConnectTimeout),
            ]
    }
 }
diff --git a/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelTests.swift b/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelTests.swift
index 18deb265..3033efae 100644
--- a/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/NIOTests/ChannelTests.swift
@@ -1010,4 +1010,25 @@ public class ChannelTests: XCTestCase {
             XCTAssertEqual(.writtenCompletely, result)
         }
     }
+
+    func testConnectTimeout() throws {
+        let group = MultiThreadedEventLoopGroup(numThreads: 1)
+        defer {
+            try! group.syncShutdownGracefully()
+        }
+       
+        do {
+            // This must throw as 198.51.100.254 is reserved for documentation only
+            _ = try ClientBootstrap(group: group)
+                .channelOption(option: ChannelOptions.connectTimeout, value: .milliseconds(10))
+                .connect(to: SocketAddress.newAddressResolving(host: "198.51.100.254", port: 65535)).wait()
+            XCTFail()
+        } catch let err as ChannelError {
+            if case .connectTimeout(_) = err {
+                // expected, sadly there is no "if not case"
+            } else {
+                XCTFail()
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }