diff --git a/packer/core.go b/packer/core.go
index a76951e33..0b3670371 100644
--- a/packer/core.go
+++ b/packer/core.go
@@ -168,6 +168,11 @@ func (c *Core) Build(n string) (Build, error) {
 				PauseBefore: rawP.PauseBefore,
 				Provisioner: provisioner,
 			}
+		} else if rawP.Timeout > 0 {
+			provisioner = &TimeoutProvisioner{
+				Timeout:     rawP.Timeout,
+				Provisioner: provisioner,
+			}
 		}
 
 		provisioners = append(provisioners, coreBuildProvisioner{
diff --git a/packer/provisioner.go b/packer/provisioner.go
index 990313f38..ec350fd50 100644
--- a/packer/provisioner.go
+++ b/packer/provisioner.go
@@ -53,8 +53,6 @@ func (h *ProvisionHook) Run(ctx context.Context, name string, ui Ui, comm Commun
 
 	for _, p := range h.Provisioners {
 		ts := CheckpointReporter.AddSpan(p.TypeName, "provisioner", p.Config)
-		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 5*time.Second)
-		defer cancel()
 
 		err := p.Provisioner.Provision(ctx, ui, comm)
 
diff --git a/packer/provisioner_timeout.go b/packer/provisioner_timeout.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a2af71e7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packer/provisioner_timeout.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package packer
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// TimeoutProvisioner is a Provisioner implementation that can timeout after a
+// duration
+type TimeoutProvisioner struct {
+	Provisioner
+	Timeout time.Duration
+}
+
+func (p *TimeoutProvisioner) Provision(ctx context.Context, ui Ui, comm Communicator) error {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, p.Timeout)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	// Use a select to determine if we get cancelled during the wait
+	ui.Say(fmt.Sprintf("Setting a %s timeout for the next provisioner...", p.Timeout))
+	return p.Provisioner.Provision(ctx, ui, comm)
+}
diff --git a/template/parse.go b/template/parse.go
index 0f0aad944..82bf6731f 100644
--- a/template/parse.go
+++ b/template/parse.go
@@ -233,6 +233,7 @@ func (r *rawTemplate) Template() (*Template, error) {
 		delete(p.Config, "override")
 		delete(p.Config, "pause_before")
 		delete(p.Config, "type")
+		delete(p.Config, "timeout")
 
 		if len(p.Config) == 0 {
 			p.Config = nil
diff --git a/template/parse_test.go b/template/parse_test.go
index d67f31ec3..71d152af6 100644
--- a/template/parse_test.go
+++ b/template/parse_test.go
@@ -106,6 +106,19 @@ func TestParse(t *testing.T) {
 			false,
 		},
 
+		{
+			"parse-provisioner-timeout.json",
+			&Template{
+				Provisioners: []*Provisioner{
+					{
+						Type:    "something",
+						Timeout: 5 * time.Minute,
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			false,
+		},
+
 		{
 			"parse-provisioner-only.json",
 			&Template{
diff --git a/template/template.go b/template/template.go
index 98e8a7eaf..43d7de078 100644
--- a/template/template.go
+++ b/template/template.go
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ type Provisioner struct {
 	Config      map[string]interface{} `json:"config,omitempty"`
 	Override    map[string]interface{} `json:"override,omitempty"`
 	PauseBefore time.Duration          `mapstructure:"pause_before" json:"pause_before,omitempty"`
+	Timeout     time.Duration          `mapstructure:"timeout" json:"timeout,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // MarshalJSON conducts the necessary flattening of the Provisioner struct
diff --git a/template/template_test.go b/template/template_test.go
index 6fa39ab88..7dc5b87d6 100644
--- a/template/template_test.go
+++ b/template/template_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ func TestTemplateValidate(t *testing.T) {
 		File string
 		Err  bool
 	}{
+		{
+			"validate-good-prov-timeout.json",
+			false,
+		},
+
 		{
 			"validate-no-builders.json",
 			true,
diff --git a/template/test-fixtures/parse-provisioner-timeout.json b/template/test-fixtures/parse-provisioner-timeout.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed9853595
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/test-fixtures/parse-provisioner-timeout.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+    "provisioners": [
+        {
+            "type": "something",
+            "timeout": "5m"
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/template/test-fixtures/validate-good-prov-timeout.json b/template/test-fixtures/validate-good-prov-timeout.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6343debd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/template/test-fixtures/validate-good-prov-timeout.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+    "builders": [{
+        "type": "foo"
+    }],
+
+    "provisioners": [{
+        "timeout": "5m",
+        "type": "bar",
+        "only": ["foo"]
+    }]
+}
diff --git a/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.md.erb b/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.md.erb
index d4b40c96d..781c7e88d 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.md.erb
+++ b/website/source/docs/provisioners/shell.html.md.erb
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ executing the next script:
   "type": "shell",
   "script": "script.sh",
   "pause_before": "10s"
+  "timeout": "10s"
 }
 ```
 
diff --git a/website/source/docs/templates/provisioners.html.md b/website/source/docs/templates/provisioners.html.md
index b74929562..8cb4bc2f9 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/templates/provisioners.html.md
+++ b/website/source/docs/templates/provisioners.html.md
@@ -140,3 +140,25 @@ that provisioner. By default, there is no pause. An example is shown below:
 
 For the above provisioner, Packer will wait 10 seconds before uploading and
 executing the shell script.
+
+## Timeout
+
+Sometimes a command can take much more time than expected
+
+Every provisioner definition in a Packer template can take a special
+configuration `timeout` that is the amount of time to wait before
+considering that the provisioner failed. By default, there is no timeout. An
+example is shown below:
+
+``` json
+{
+  "type": "shell",
+  "script": "script.sh",
+  "timeout": "5m"
+}
+```
+
+For the above provisioner, Packer will cancel the script if it takes more than
+5 minutes.
+
+Timeout has no effect in debug mode.