diff --git a/ofborg/src/bin/builder.rs b/ofborg/src/bin/builder.rs
index 006e2ce..1504625 100644
--- a/ofborg/src/bin/builder.rs
+++ b/ofborg/src/bin/builder.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ use ofborg::config;
 use ofborg::checkout;
 use ofborg::worker;
 use ofborg::tasks;
-use ofborg::nix;
 
 
 fn main() {
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ fn main() {
     let mut channel = session.open_channel(2).unwrap();
 
     let cloner = checkout::cached_cloner(Path::new(&cfg.checkout.root));
-    let nix = nix::new(cfg.nix.system.clone(), cfg.nix.remote.clone());
+    let nix = cfg.nix();
 
     channel.basic_consume(
         worker::new(tasks::build::BuildWorker::new(cloner, nix, cfg.nix.system.clone())),
diff --git a/ofborg/src/bin/mass-rebuilder.rs b/ofborg/src/bin/mass-rebuilder.rs
index 695ff20..2b080df 100644
--- a/ofborg/src/bin/mass-rebuilder.rs
+++ b/ofborg/src/bin/mass-rebuilder.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ use std::path::Path;
 use ofborg::tasks;
 use ofborg::config;
 use ofborg::checkout;
-use ofborg::nix;
 
 use ofborg::worker;
 use amqp::Session;
@@ -46,7 +45,7 @@ fn main() {
     let mut channel = session.open_channel(2).unwrap();
 
     let cloner = checkout::cached_cloner(Path::new(&cfg.checkout.root));
-    let nix = nix::new(cfg.nix.system.clone(), cfg.nix.remote.clone());
+    let nix = cfg.nix();
 
 
     let mrw = tasks::massrebuilder::MassRebuildWorker::new(
diff --git a/ofborg/src/config.rs b/ofborg/src/config.rs
index 1454993..f4aa3f5 100644
--- a/ofborg/src/config.rs
+++ b/ofborg/src/config.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use hyper::Client;
 use hyper::net::HttpsConnector;
 use hyper_native_tls::NativeTlsClient;
 use hubcaps::{Credentials, Github};
-
+use nix::Nix;
 
 
 use ofborg::acl;
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ pub struct RabbitMQConfig {
 pub struct NixConfig {
     pub system: String,
     pub remote: String,
+    pub build_timeout_seconds: u16,
 }
 
 
@@ -76,6 +77,21 @@ impl Config {
             Credentials::Token(self.github.clone().unwrap().token)
         )
     }
+
+    pub fn nix(&self) -> Nix {
+        if self.nix.build_timeout_seconds < 1200 {
+            error!("Note: {} is way too low for build_timeout_seconds!",
+                   self.nix.build_timeout_seconds
+            );
+            error!("Please set build_timeout_seconds to at least 1200");
+            panic!();
+        }
+
+        return Nix::new(self.nix.system.clone(),
+                        self.nix.remote.clone(),
+                        self.nix.build_timeout_seconds
+        );
+    }
 }
 
 
diff --git a/ofborg/src/nix.rs b/ofborg/src/nix.rs
index d8be6c8..88b9469 100644
--- a/ofborg/src/nix.rs
+++ b/ofborg/src/nix.rs
@@ -9,21 +9,24 @@ use std::io::SeekFrom;
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq)]
 pub struct Nix {
     system: String,
-    remote: String
-}
-
-pub fn new(system: String, remote: String) -> Nix {
-    return Nix{
-        system: system,
-        remote: remote,
-    }
+    remote: String,
+    build_timeout: u16
 }
 
 impl Nix {
+    pub fn new(system: String, remote: String, build_timeout: u16) -> Nix {
+        return Nix{
+            system: system,
+            remote: remote,
+            build_timeout: build_timeout,
+        }
+    }
+
     pub fn with_system(&self, system: String) -> Nix {
         return Nix{
             system: system,
             remote: self.remote.clone(),
+            build_timeout: self.build_timeout,
         };
     }
 
@@ -58,6 +61,7 @@ impl Nix {
             .env("NIX_PATH", nixpath)
             .env("NIX_REMOTE", &self.remote)
             .args(&["--option", "restrict-eval", "true"])
+            .args(&["--option", "build-timeout", &format!("{}", self.build_timeout)])
             .args(&["--argstr", "system", &self.system])
             .args(args)
             .status()