diff --git a/blobstore/src/main/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/strategy/internal/DeleteAllKeysInList.java b/blobstore/src/main/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/strategy/internal/DeleteAllKeysInList.java
index 6107a2045f..0bdd53d493 100644
--- a/blobstore/src/main/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/strategy/internal/DeleteAllKeysInList.java
+++ b/blobstore/src/main/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/strategy/internal/DeleteAllKeysInList.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.Future;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 import javax.annotation.Resource;
 import javax.inject.Named;
@@ -62,12 +63,10 @@ public class DeleteAllKeysInList implements ClearListStrategy, ClearContainerStr
    private final ExecutorService userExecutor;
 
    protected final AsyncBlobStore connection;
-   /**
-    * maximum duration of an blob Request
-    */
+   /** Maximum duration in milliseconds of a request. */
    @Inject(optional = true)
    @Named(Constants.PROPERTY_REQUEST_TIMEOUT)
-   protected Long maxTime;
+   protected Long maxTime = Long.MAX_VALUE;
 
    @Inject
    DeleteAllKeysInList(@Named(Constants.PROPERTY_USER_THREADS) ExecutorService userExecutor,
@@ -98,7 +97,7 @@ public class DeleteAllKeysInList implements ClearListStrategy, ClearContainerStr
          Future<PageSet<? extends StorageMetadata>> listFuture =
                connection.list(containerName, options);
          try {
-            listing = listFuture.get();
+            listing = listFuture.get(maxTime, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
          } catch (InterruptedException ie) {
             Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
             break;
@@ -109,6 +108,13 @@ public class DeleteAllKeysInList implements ClearListStrategy, ClearContainerStr
             }
             retryHandler.imposeBackoffExponentialDelay(numErrors, message);
             continue;
+         } catch (TimeoutException te) {
+            ++numErrors;
+            if (numErrors == maxErrors) {
+               throw propagate(te);
+            }
+            retryHandler.imposeBackoffExponentialDelay(numErrors, message);
+            continue;
          } finally {
             listFuture.cancel(true);
          }
diff --git a/blobstore/src/test/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/strategy/internal/DeleteAllKeysInListTest.java b/blobstore/src/test/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/strategy/internal/DeleteAllKeysInListTest.java
index 9565d20119..0662580277 100644
--- a/blobstore/src/test/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/strategy/internal/DeleteAllKeysInListTest.java
+++ b/blobstore/src/test/java/org/jclouds/blobstore/strategy/internal/DeleteAllKeysInListTest.java
@@ -18,16 +18,30 @@
  */
 package org.jclouds.blobstore.strategy.internal;
 
+import static org.easymock.EasyMock.anyLong;
+import static org.easymock.EasyMock.anyObject;
+import static org.easymock.EasyMock.createMock;
+import static org.easymock.EasyMock.expect;
+import static org.easymock.EasyMock.replay;
 import static org.testng.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.testng.Assert.fail;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 import org.jclouds.ContextBuilder;
+import org.jclouds.blobstore.AsyncBlobStore;
 import org.jclouds.blobstore.BlobStore;
 import org.jclouds.blobstore.options.ListContainerOptions;
+import org.jclouds.blobstore.domain.PageSet;
+import org.jclouds.blobstore.domain.StorageMetadata;
+import org.jclouds.util.Throwables2;
 import org.testng.annotations.AfterMethod;
 import org.testng.annotations.BeforeMethod;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 
 import com.google.common.io.Closeables;
+import com.google.common.util.concurrent.ListenableFuture;
 import com.google.inject.Injector;
 
 /**
@@ -74,6 +88,27 @@ public class DeleteAllKeysInListTest {
       assertEquals(blobstore.countBlobs(containerName), 1111);
    }
 
+   public void testListTimeoutException() throws Exception {
+      ListenableFuture<PageSet<? extends StorageMetadata>> future = createMock(ListenableFuture.class);
+      expect(future.get(anyLong(), anyObject(TimeUnit.class))).andThrow(new RuntimeException(new TimeoutException()));
+      expect(future.cancel(true)).andReturn(true);
+      replay(future);
+
+      AsyncBlobStore asyncBlobStore = createMock(AsyncBlobStore.class);
+      expect(asyncBlobStore.list(anyObject(String.class), anyObject(ListContainerOptions.class))).andReturn(future);
+      replay(asyncBlobStore);
+
+      deleter = new DeleteAllKeysInList(null, asyncBlobStore, null);
+      try {
+         deleter.execute(containerName, ListContainerOptions.NONE);
+         fail();
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+         if (Throwables2.getFirstThrowableOfType(e, TimeoutException.class) == null) {
+            throw e;
+         }
+      }
+   }
+
    /**
     * Create a container "container" with 1111 blobs named "blob-%d".  Create a
     * subdirectory "directory" which contains 2222 more blobs named
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/Constants.java b/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/Constants.java
index 70e715f3ea..1b0d770378 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/Constants.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/jclouds/Constants.java
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ public interface Constants {
    /**
     * Long property.
     * <p/>
-    * longest time a single request can take before throwing an exception.
+    * Maximum duration in milliseconds a single request can take before throwing an exception.
     */
    public static final String PROPERTY_REQUEST_TIMEOUT = "jclouds.request-timeout";
    /**