diff --git a/wolframalpha/__init__.py b/wolframalpha/__init__.py
index 8eb536c..38bba42 100644
--- a/wolframalpha/__init__.py
+++ b/wolframalpha/__init__.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ class Client(object):
     def __init__(self, app_id):
         self.app_id = app_id
 
-    def query(self, input, params=(), **kwargs):
+    def query(self, input, timeout=5, params=(), **kwargs):
         """
         Query Wolfram|Alpha using the v2.0 API
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class Client(object):
 
         query = urllib.parse.urlencode(tuple(data))
         url = 'https://api.wolframalpha.com/v2/query?' + query
-        resp = urllib.request.urlopen(url)
+        resp = urllib.request.urlopen(url, timeout=timeout)
         assert resp.headers.get_content_type() == 'text/xml'
         assert resp.headers.get_param('charset') == 'utf-8'
         return Result(resp)