diff --git a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/config/RequestConfig.java b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/config/RequestConfig.java
index f98e3c315..e3cf0efab 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/config/RequestConfig.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/config/RequestConfig.java
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ public class RequestConfig implements Cloneable {
     private final Collection<String> proxyPreferredAuthSchemes;
     private final Timeout connectionRequestTimeout;
     private final Timeout connectTimeout;
+    private final Timeout responseTimeout;
     private final boolean contentCompressionEnabled;
     private final boolean hardCancellationEnabled;
 
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@ public class RequestConfig implements Cloneable {
     */
     protected RequestConfig() {
         this(false, null, null, false, false, 0, false, null, null,
-                DEFAULT_CONNECTION_REQUEST_TIMEOUT, DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT, false, false);
+                DEFAULT_CONNECTION_REQUEST_TIMEOUT, DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT, null, false, false);
     }
 
     RequestConfig(
@@ -80,6 +81,7 @@ public class RequestConfig implements Cloneable {
             final Collection<String> proxyPreferredAuthSchemes,
             final Timeout connectionRequestTimeout,
             final Timeout connectTimeout,
+            final Timeout responseTimeout,
             final boolean contentCompressionEnabled,
             final boolean hardCancellationEnabled) {
         super();
@@ -94,6 +96,7 @@ public class RequestConfig implements Cloneable {
         this.proxyPreferredAuthSchemes = proxyPreferredAuthSchemes;
         this.connectionRequestTimeout = connectionRequestTimeout;
         this.connectTimeout = connectTimeout;
+        this.responseTimeout = responseTimeout;
         this.contentCompressionEnabled = contentCompressionEnabled;
         this.hardCancellationEnabled = hardCancellationEnabled;
     }
@@ -230,7 +233,6 @@ public class RequestConfig implements Cloneable {
      * such as {@code SSL} or {@code TLS} protocol negotiation).
      * <p>
      * A timeout value of zero is interpreted as an infinite timeout.
-     * A negative value is interpreted as undefined (system default).
      * </p>
      * <p>
      * Default: 3 minutes
@@ -240,6 +242,26 @@ public class RequestConfig implements Cloneable {
         return connectTimeout;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Determines the timeout until arrival of a response from the opposite
+     * endpoint.
+     * <p>
+     * A timeout value of zero is interpreted as an infinite timeout.
+     * </p>
+     * <p>
+     * Please note that response timeout may be unsupported by
+     * HTTP transports with message multiplexing.
+     * </p>
+     * <p>
+     * Default: {@code null}
+     * </p>
+     *
+     * @since 5.0
+     */
+    public Timeout getResponseTimeout() {
+        return responseTimeout;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Determines whether the target server is requested to compress content.
      * <p>
@@ -343,6 +365,7 @@ public class RequestConfig implements Cloneable {
         private Collection<String> proxyPreferredAuthSchemes;
         private Timeout connectionRequestTimeout;
         private Timeout connectTimeout;
+        private Timeout responseTimeout;
         private boolean contentCompressionEnabled;
         private boolean hardCancellationEnabled;
 
@@ -422,6 +445,16 @@ public class RequestConfig implements Cloneable {
             return this;
         }
 
+        public Builder setResponseTimeout(final Timeout responseTimeout) {
+            this.responseTimeout = responseTimeout;
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        public Builder setResponseTimeout(final long responseTimeout, final TimeUnit timeUnit) {
+            this.responseTimeout = Timeout.of(responseTimeout, timeUnit);
+            return this;
+        }
+
         public Builder setContentCompressionEnabled(final boolean contentCompressionEnabled) {
             this.contentCompressionEnabled = contentCompressionEnabled;
             return this;
@@ -445,6 +478,7 @@ public class RequestConfig implements Cloneable {
                     proxyPreferredAuthSchemes,
                     connectionRequestTimeout != null ? connectionRequestTimeout : DEFAULT_CONNECTION_REQUEST_TIMEOUT,
                     connectTimeout != null ? connectTimeout : DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT,
+                    responseTimeout,
                     contentCompressionEnabled,
                     hardCancellationEnabled);
         }
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/async/InternalHttpAsyncExecRuntime.java b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/async/InternalHttpAsyncExecRuntime.java
index f0d0399d7..631db1ce8 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/async/InternalHttpAsyncExecRuntime.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/async/InternalHttpAsyncExecRuntime.java
@@ -238,6 +238,11 @@ class InternalHttpAsyncExecRuntime implements AsyncExecRuntime {
             if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
                 log.debug(ConnPoolSupport.getId(endpoint) + ": executing " + ConnPoolSupport.getId(exchangeHandler));
             }
+            final RequestConfig requestConfig = context.getRequestConfig();
+            final Timeout responseTimeout = requestConfig.getResponseTimeout();
+            if (responseTimeout != null) {
+                endpoint.setSocketTimeout(responseTimeout);
+            }
             endpoint.execute(exchangeHandler, context);
             if (context.getRequestConfig().isHardCancellationEnabled()) {
                 return new Cancellable() {
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/async/MinimalHttpAsyncClient.java b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/async/MinimalHttpAsyncClient.java
index d0f5e0057..a8ef3dc1e 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/async/MinimalHttpAsyncClient.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/async/MinimalHttpAsyncClient.java
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ public final class MinimalHttpAsyncClient extends AbstractMinimalHttpAsyncClient
                     }
                     final Timeout connectionRequestTimeout = requestConfig.getConnectionRequestTimeout();
                     final Timeout connectTimeout = requestConfig.getConnectTimeout();
+                    final Timeout responseTimeout = requestConfig.getResponseTimeout();
                     final HttpHost target = new HttpHost(request.getAuthority(), request.getScheme());
 
                     final Future<AsyncConnectionEndpoint> leaseFuture = leaseEndpoint(
@@ -393,6 +394,9 @@ public final class MinimalHttpAsyncClient extends AbstractMinimalHttpAsyncClient
                                         }
 
                                     };
+                                    if (responseTimeout != null) {
+                                        endpoint.setSocketTimeout(responseTimeout);
+                                    }
                                     endpoint.execute(internalExchangeHandler, pushHandlerFactory, clientContext);
                                 }
 
@@ -463,6 +467,10 @@ public final class MinimalHttpAsyncClient extends AbstractMinimalHttpAsyncClient
             }
         }
 
+        public void setSocketTimeout(final Timeout timeout) {
+            connectionEndpoint.setSocketTimeout(timeout);
+        }
+
         @Override
         public void releaseAndReuse() {
             if (released.compareAndSet(false, true)) {
diff --git a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/classic/InternalExecRuntime.java b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/classic/InternalExecRuntime.java
index 596b464ba..6338e62d3 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/classic/InternalExecRuntime.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/classic/InternalExecRuntime.java
@@ -187,6 +187,11 @@ class InternalExecRuntime implements ExecRuntime, Cancellable {
         if (!endpoint.isConnected()) {
             connectEndpoint(endpoint, context);
         }
+        final RequestConfig requestConfig = context.getRequestConfig();
+        final Timeout responseTimeout = requestConfig.getResponseTimeout();
+        if (responseTimeout != null) {
+            endpoint.setSocketTimeout(responseTimeout);
+        }
         return endpoint.execute(request, requestExecutor, context);
     }