diff --git a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/WireFormatNegotiator.java b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/WireFormatNegotiator.java
index 90a6848a01..c6ea1ca264 100755
--- a/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/WireFormatNegotiator.java
+++ b/activemq-core/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/WireFormatNegotiator.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 
 import edu.emory.mathcs.backport.java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
+import edu.emory.mathcs.backport.java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import edu.emory.mathcs.backport.java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 
 
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ public class WireFormatNegotiator extends TransportFilter {
     
     private OpenWireFormat wireFormat;
     private final int minimumVersion;
+    private long negotiateTimeout=15000;
     
     private final AtomicBoolean firstStart=new AtomicBoolean(true);
     private final CountDownLatch readyCountDownLatch = new CountDownLatch(1);
@@ -70,7 +72,8 @@ public class WireFormatNegotiator extends TransportFilter {
     
     public void oneway(Command command) throws IOException {
         try {
-            readyCountDownLatch.await();
+            if( !readyCountDownLatch.await(negotiateTimeout, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS) ) 
+            	throw new IOException("Wire format negociation timeout: peer did not send his wire format.");
         } catch (InterruptedException e) {
             throw new InterruptedIOException();
         }
@@ -130,4 +133,13 @@ public class WireFormatNegotiator extends TransportFilter {
     
     protected void onWireFormatNegotiated(WireFormatInfo info) {
     }
+
+
+	public long getNegotiateTimeout() {
+		return negotiateTimeout;
+	}
+
+	public void setNegotiateTimeout(long negotiateTimeout) {
+		this.negotiateTimeout = negotiateTimeout;
+	}
 }