diff --git a/ffmpeg/_run.py b/ffmpeg/_run.py
index eadb90a4..9d17de69 100644
--- a/ffmpeg/_run.py
+++ b/ffmpeg/_run.py
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ def get_args(stream_spec, overwrite_output=False):
 
 
 @output_operator()
-def compile(stream_spec, cmd='ffmpeg', overwrite_output=False):
+def compile(stream_spec, cmd='ffmpeg', overwrite_output=False,timeout=-1):
     """Build command-line for invoking ffmpeg.
 
     The :meth:`run` function uses this to build the command line
@@ -187,6 +187,9 @@ def compile(stream_spec, cmd='ffmpeg', overwrite_output=False):
         cmd = [cmd]
     elif type(cmd) != list:
         cmd = list(cmd)
+    if timeout >0:
+        cmd.insert(0,'%d'%timeout)
+        cmd.insert(0,'timeout')
     return cmd + get_args(stream_spec, overwrite_output=overwrite_output)
 
 
@@ -199,7 +202,8 @@ def run_async(
     pipe_stderr=False,
     quiet=False,
     overwrite_output=False,
-    cwd=None
+    cwd=None,
+    timeout=-1
 ):
     """Asynchronously invoke ffmpeg for the supplied node graph.
 
@@ -278,7 +282,7 @@ def run_async(
 
     .. _subprocess Popen: https://docs.python.org/3/library/subprocess.html#popen-objects
     """
-    args = compile(stream_spec, cmd, overwrite_output=overwrite_output)
+    args = compile(stream_spec, cmd, overwrite_output=overwrite_output,timeout=timeout)
     stdin_stream = subprocess.PIPE if pipe_stdin else None
     stdout_stream = subprocess.PIPE if pipe_stdout else None
     stderr_stream = subprocess.PIPE if pipe_stderr else None
@@ -300,7 +304,8 @@ def run(
     input=None,
     quiet=False,
     overwrite_output=False,
-    cwd=None
+    cwd=None,
+    timeout=-1
 ):
     """Invoke ffmpeg for the supplied node graph.
 
@@ -324,7 +329,8 @@ def run(
         pipe_stderr=capture_stderr,
         quiet=quiet,
         overwrite_output=overwrite_output,
-        cwd=cwd
+        cwd=cwd,
+        timeout=timeout
     )
     out, err = process.communicate(input)
     retcode = process.poll()