diff --git a/wp-includes/Requests/Transport/cURL.php b/wp-includes/Requests/Transport/cURL.php
index ce09111cba..36cba510c7 100644
--- a/wp-includes/Requests/Transport/cURL.php
+++ b/wp-includes/Requests/Transport/cURL.php
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ class Requests_Transport_cURL implements Requests_Transport {
 
 		$this->process_response($response, $options);
 
-		// Need to remove the $this reference from the curl handle. 
+		// Need to remove the $this reference from the curl handle.
 		// Otherwise Requests_Transport_cURL wont be garbage collected and the curl_close() will never be called.
 		curl_setopt($this->handle, CURLOPT_HEADERFUNCTION, null);
 		curl_setopt($this->handle, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, null);
@@ -349,11 +349,19 @@ class Requests_Transport_cURL implements Requests_Transport {
 				break;
 		}
 
-		if (is_int($options['timeout']) || $this->version < self::CURL_7_16_2) {
-			curl_setopt($this->handle, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, ceil($options['timeout']));
+		// cURL requires a minimum timeout of 1 second when using the system
+		// DNS resolver, as it uses `alarm()`, which is second resolution only.
+		// There's no way to detect which DNS resolver is being used from our
+		// end, so we need to round up regardless of the supplied timeout.
+		//
+		// https://github.com/curl/curl/blob/4f45240bc84a9aa648c8f7243be7b79e9f9323a5/lib/hostip.c#L606-L609
+		$timeout = max($options['timeout'], 1);
+
+		if (is_int($timeout) || $this->version < self::CURL_7_16_2) {
+			curl_setopt($this->handle, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, ceil($timeout));
 		}
 		else {
-			curl_setopt($this->handle, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT_MS, round($options['timeout'] * 1000));
+			curl_setopt($this->handle, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT_MS, round($timeout * 1000));
 		}
 
 		if (is_int($options['connect_timeout']) || $this->version < self::CURL_7_16_2) {
diff --git a/wp-includes/class-requests.php b/wp-includes/class-requests.php
index 89a2dda9e2..f5aced060a 100644
--- a/wp-includes/class-requests.php
+++ b/wp-includes/class-requests.php
@@ -304,6 +304,8 @@ class Requests {
 	 * options:
 	 *
 	 * - `timeout`: How long should we wait for a response?
+	 *    Note: for cURL, a minimum of 1 second applies, as DNS resolution
+	 *    operates at second-resolution only.
 	 *    (float, seconds with a millisecond precision, default: 10, example: 0.01)
 	 * - `connect_timeout`: How long should we wait while trying to connect?
 	 *    (float, seconds with a millisecond precision, default: 10, example: 0.01)
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index 18c65947da..4f51cef6a7 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  *
  * @global string $wp_version
  */
-$wp_version = '4.6-alpha-37693';
+$wp_version = '4.6-alpha-37694';
 
 /**
  * Holds the WordPress DB revision, increments when changes are made to the WordPress DB schema.