diff --git a/doc/man/man5/lloadd.conf.5 b/doc/man/man5/lloadd.conf.5
index b6031972a2..bae0fef4e9 100644
--- a/doc/man/man5/lloadd.conf.5
+++ b/doc/man/man5/lloadd.conf.5
@@ -290,6 +290,12 @@ process PDUs from the connection until there is no more data to be
 read or this limit is reached when the I/O thread can pick it up again.
 Very high values have a potential to cause some connections to be
 starved in a very high-bandwidth environment. The default is 1000.
+.TP
+.B iotimeout <integer>
+Specify the number of milliseconds to wait before forcibly closing
+a connection with an outstanding write. This allows faster recovery from
+various network hang conditions.  An iotimeout of 0 disables this feature.
+The default is 10000.
 
 .SH TLS OPTIONS
 If
diff --git a/servers/lloadd/backend.c b/servers/lloadd/backend.c
index 4277021dd1..d31e4b2ec8 100644
--- a/servers/lloadd/backend.c
+++ b/servers/lloadd/backend.c
@@ -117,8 +117,6 @@ upstream_name_cb( int result, struct evutil_addrinfo *res, void *arg )
     }
     /* Asynchronous connect */
     if ( rc ) {
-        struct timeval tv = { slap_write_timeout / 1000,
-                1000 * ( slap_write_timeout % 1000 ) };
         PendingConnection *conn;
 
         if ( errno != EINPROGRESS && errno != EWOULDBLOCK ) {
@@ -145,7 +143,7 @@ upstream_name_cb( int result, struct evutil_addrinfo *res, void *arg )
             goto fail;
         }
 
-        event_add( conn->event, &tv );
+        event_add( conn->event, lload_write_timeout );
         LDAP_LIST_INSERT_HEAD( &b->b_connecting, conn, next );
         Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_CONNS, "upstream_name_cb: "
                 "connection to backend uri=%s in progress\n",
@@ -353,8 +351,6 @@ backend_connect( evutil_socket_t s, short what, void *arg )
                 s, (struct sockaddr *)&addr, sizeof(struct sockaddr_un) );
         /* Asynchronous connect */
         if ( rc ) {
-            struct timeval tv = { slap_write_timeout / 1000,
-                    1000 * ( slap_write_timeout % 1000 ) };
             PendingConnection *conn;
 
             if ( errno != EINPROGRESS && errno != EWOULDBLOCK ) {
@@ -378,7 +374,7 @@ backend_connect( evutil_socket_t s, short what, void *arg )
                 goto fail;
             }
 
-            event_add( conn->event, &tv );
+            event_add( conn->event, lload_write_timeout );
             LDAP_LIST_INSERT_HEAD( &b->b_connecting, conn, next );
             Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_CONNS, "backend_connect: "
                     "connection to backend uri=%s in progress\n",
diff --git a/servers/lloadd/config.c b/servers/lloadd/config.c
index aa8b1a06e6..1417368c35 100644
--- a/servers/lloadd/config.c
+++ b/servers/lloadd/config.c
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ char *global_host = NULL;
 static FILE *logfile;
 static char *logfileName;
 
+static struct timeval timeout_write_tv = { 10, 0 };
+
 lload_features_t lload_features;
 
 ber_len_t sockbuf_max_incoming_client = LLOAD_SB_MAX_INCOMING_CLIENT;
@@ -76,7 +78,7 @@ ber_len_t sockbuf_max_incoming_upstream = LLOAD_SB_MAX_INCOMING_UPSTREAM;
 
 int slap_conn_max_pdus_per_cycle = LLOAD_CONN_MAX_PDUS_PER_CYCLE_DEFAULT;
 
-int slap_write_timeout = 10000;
+struct timeval *lload_write_timeout = &timeout_write_tv;
 
 char *slapd_pid_file = NULL;
 char *slapd_args_file = NULL;
@@ -148,6 +150,7 @@ enum {
     CFG_TLS_CERT,
     CFG_TLS_KEY,
     CFG_RESCOUNT,
+    CFG_IOTIMEOUT,
 
     CFG_LAST
 };
@@ -381,6 +384,10 @@ static ConfigTable config_back_cf_table[] = {
         NULL,
 #endif
     },
+    { "iotimeout", "ms timeout", 2, 2, 0,
+        ARG_INT|ARG_MAGIC|CFG_IOTIMEOUT,
+        &config_generic,
+    },
 
     { NULL, NULL, 0, 0, 0, ARG_IGNORED, NULL }
 };
@@ -457,6 +464,21 @@ config_generic( ConfigArgs *c )
             slap_conn_max_pdus_per_cycle = c->value_int;
             break;
 
+        case CFG_IOTIMEOUT:
+            if ( c->value_int < 0 ) {
+                snprintf( c->cr_msg, sizeof(c->cr_msg),
+                        "iotimeout=%d invalid", c->value_int );
+                Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY, "%s: %s\n", c->log, c->cr_msg );
+                return 1;
+            } else if ( c->value_int > 0 ) {
+                timeout_write_tv.tv_sec = c->value_int / 1000;
+                timeout_write_tv.tv_sec = 1000 * ( c->value_int % 1000 );
+                lload_write_timeout = &timeout_write_tv;
+            } else {
+                lload_write_timeout = NULL;
+            }
+            break;
+
         default:
             Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY, "%s: unknown CFG_TYPE %d\n",
                     c->log, c->type );
diff --git a/servers/lloadd/connection.c b/servers/lloadd/connection.c
index c0e458148b..907bbe2aa5 100644
--- a/servers/lloadd/connection.c
+++ b/servers/lloadd/connection.c
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ connection_write_cb( evutil_socket_t s, short what, void *arg )
             CONNECTION_LOCK_DESTROY(c);
             return;
         }
-        event_add( c->c_write_event, NULL );
+        event_add( c->c_write_event, lload_write_timeout );
     } else {
         c->c_pendingber = NULL;
     }
diff --git a/servers/lloadd/proto-slap.h b/servers/lloadd/proto-slap.h
index 5df2ce922b..45eb2c1da2 100644
--- a/servers/lloadd/proto-slap.h
+++ b/servers/lloadd/proto-slap.h
@@ -242,8 +242,6 @@ LDAP_SLAPD_V (ber_len_t) sockbuf_max_incoming_client;
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (ber_len_t) sockbuf_max_incoming_upstream;
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (int) slap_conn_max_pdus_per_cycle;
 
-LDAP_SLAPD_V (int) slap_write_timeout;
-
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (lload_features_t) lload_features;
 
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (slap_mask_t) global_allows;
@@ -253,6 +251,9 @@ LDAP_SLAPD_V (const char) Versionstr[];
 
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (int) global_gentlehup;
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (int) global_idletimeout;
+
+LDAP_SLAPD_V (struct timeval *) lload_write_timeout;
+
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (char *) global_host;
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (int) lber_debug;
 LDAP_SLAPD_V (int) ldap_syslog;