diff --git a/src/FFMpeg/Binary.php b/src/FFMpeg/Binary.php
index 9975a11..36fe496 100644
--- a/src/FFMpeg/Binary.php
+++ b/src/FFMpeg/Binary.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 namespace FFMpeg;
 
 use FFMpeg\Exception\BinaryNotFoundException;
+use FFMpeg\Exception\InvalidArgumentException;
 use Monolog\Logger;
 use Symfony\Component\Process\ExecutableFinder;
 
@@ -50,7 +51,35 @@ abstract class Binary implements AdapterInterface
 
         $this->binary = $binary;
         $this->logger = $logger;
+        $this->setTimeout($timeout);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the current timeout for underlying processes.
+     *
+     * @return integer|float
+     */
+    public function getTimeout()
+    {
+        return $this->timeout;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the timeout for the underlying processes, use 0 to disable timeout.
+     *
+     * @param integer|float $timeout
+     *
+     * @return Binary
+     */
+    public function setTimeout($timeout)
+    {
+        if (0 > $timeout) {
+            throw new InvalidArgumentException('Timeout must be a positive value');
+        }
+
         $this->timeout = $timeout;
+
+        return $this;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/src/FFMpeg/BinaryTest.php b/tests/src/FFMpeg/BinaryTest.php
index 081d482..5863da0 100644
--- a/tests/src/FFMpeg/BinaryTest.php
+++ b/tests/src/FFMpeg/BinaryTest.php
@@ -29,6 +29,40 @@ class BinaryTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         $binary = new BinaryTester('pretty_binary', $this->logger);
     }
 
+    public function testTimeout()
+    {
+        $tester = BinaryTester::load($this->logger, 200);
+        $this->assertEquals(200, $tester->getTimeout());
+    }
+
+    public function testDefaultTimeout()
+    {
+        $tester = BinaryTester::load($this->logger);
+        $this->assertEquals(60, $tester->getTimeout());
+    }
+
+    public function testNoTimeout()
+    {
+        $tester = BinaryTester::load($this->logger, 0);
+        $this->assertEquals(0, $tester->getTimeout());
+    }
+
+    public function testSetTimeout()
+    {
+        $tester = BinaryTester::load($this->logger);
+        $tester->setTimeout(200);
+        $this->assertEquals(200, $tester->getTimeout());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException \FFMpeg\Exception\InvalidArgumentException
+     */
+    public function testSetInvalidTimeout()
+    {
+        $tester = BinaryTester::load($this->logger);
+        $tester->setTimeout(-1);
+    }
+
     /**
      * @covers FFMpeg\Binary::load
      */