diff --git a/lib/rb/spec/socket_spec.rb b/lib/rb/spec/socket_spec.rb
index 3fede96..c5866ee 100644
--- a/lib/rb/spec/socket_spec.rb
+++ b/lib/rb/spec/socket_spec.rb
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@
       TCPSocket.should_receive(:new).with('my.domain', 1234)
       Socket.new('my.domain', 1234).open
     end
+
+    it "should accept an optional timeout" do
+      TCPSocket.stub!(:new)
+      Socket.new('localhost', 8080, 5).timeout.should == 5
+    end
   end
 
   describe ServerSocket do
diff --git a/lib/rb/spec/socket_spec_shared.rb b/lib/rb/spec/socket_spec_shared.rb
index b32ab44..2d17fd3 100644
--- a/lib/rb/spec/socket_spec_shared.rb
+++ b/lib/rb/spec/socket_spec_shared.rb
@@ -51,4 +51,35 @@
     lambda { @socket.write("fail") }.should raise_error(IOError, "closed stream")
     lambda { @socket.read(10) }.should raise_error(IOError, "closed stream")
   end
+
+  it "should support the timeout accessor for read" do
+    @socket.timeout = 3
+    @socket.open
+    IO.should_receive(:select).with([@handle], nil, nil, 3).and_return([[@handle], [], []])
+    @handle.should_receive(:readpartial).with(17).and_return("test data")
+    @socket.read(17).should == "test data"
+  end
+
+  it "should support the timeout accessor for write" do
+    @socket.timeout = 3
+    @socket.open
+    IO.should_receive(:select).with(nil, [@handle], nil, 3).twice.and_return([[], [@handle], []])
+    @handle.should_receive(:write_nonblock).with("test data").and_return(4)
+    @handle.should_receive(:write_nonblock).with(" data").and_return(5)
+    @socket.write("test data").should == 9
+  end
+
+  it "should raise an error when read times out" do
+    @socket.timeout = 0.5
+    @socket.open
+    IO.should_receive(:select).with([@handle], nil, nil, 0.5).at_least(1).times.and_return(nil)
+    lambda { @socket.read(17) }.should raise_error(Thrift::TransportException) { |e| e.type.should == Thrift::TransportException::TIMED_OUT }
+  end
+
+  it "should raise an error when write times out" do
+    @socket.timeout = 0.5
+    @socket.open
+    IO.should_receive(:select).with(nil, [@handle], nil, 0.5).any_number_of_times.and_return(nil)
+    lambda { @socket.write("test data") }.should raise_error(Thrift::TransportException) { |e| e.type.should == Thrift::TransportException::TIMED_OUT }
+  end
 end
diff --git a/lib/rb/spec/unixsocket_spec.rb b/lib/rb/spec/unixsocket_spec.rb
index ff5c96c..222a1c7 100644
--- a/lib/rb/spec/unixsocket_spec.rb
+++ b/lib/rb/spec/unixsocket_spec.rb
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@
       ::UNIXSocket.should_receive(:new).and_raise(StandardError)
       lambda { @socket.open }.should raise_error(Thrift::TransportException) { |e| e.type.should == Thrift::TransportException::NOT_OPEN }
     end
+
+    it "should accept an optional timeout" do
+      ::UNIXSocket.stub!(:new)
+      UNIXSocket.new(@path, 5).timeout.should == 5
+    end
   end
 
   describe UNIXServerSocket do