diff --git a/timeout/timeout.go b/timeout/timeout.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..be85ebd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/timeout/timeout.go
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package timeout
+
+import (
+	"net"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func New(netConn net.Conn, timeout time.Duration) net.Conn {
+	return &conn{netConn, timeout}
+}
+
+// A net.Conn that sets a deadline for every Read or Write operation
+type conn struct {
+	net.Conn
+	timeout time.Duration
+}
+
+func (c *conn) Read(b []byte) (int, error) {
+	if c.timeout > 0 {
+		err := c.Conn.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(c.timeout))
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, err
+		}
+	}
+	return c.Conn.Read(b)
+}
diff --git a/timeout/timeout_test.go b/timeout/timeout_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f2bebae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/timeout/timeout_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package timeout
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
+	"net"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestRead(t *testing.T) {
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		fmt.Fprintln(w, "hello")
+	}))
+	defer ts.Close()
+	conn, err := net.Dial("tcp", ts.URL[7:])
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to create connection to %q: %v", ts.URL, err)
+	}
+	tconn := New(conn, 1*time.Second)
+
+	if _, err = bufio.NewReader(tconn).ReadString('\n'); err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("expected timeout error, got none")
+	}
+	if _, err := fmt.Fprintf(tconn, "GET / HTTP/1.0\r\n\r\n"); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err = bufio.NewReader(tconn).ReadString('\n'); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+}