diff --git a/examples/ansible.cfg b/examples/ansible.cfg
index f897a56bfb..54a1008295 100644
--- a/examples/ansible.cfg
+++ b/examples/ansible.cfg
@@ -45,6 +45,13 @@
 # A minimal set of facts is always gathered.
 #gather_subset = all
 
+# some hardware related facts are collected
+# with a maximum timeout of 10 seconds. This
+# option lets you increase or decrease that
+# timeout to something more suitable for the
+# environment. 
+# gather_timeout = 10
+
 # additional paths to search for roles in, colon separated
 #roles_path    = /etc/ansible/roles
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/constants.py b/lib/ansible/constants.py
index 6e70d3c0d8..9e20ac5bf7 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/constants.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/constants.py
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ DEFAULT_JINJA2_EXTENSIONS = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'jinja2_extensions', 'ANSIBL
 DEFAULT_EXECUTABLE        = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'executable', 'ANSIBLE_EXECUTABLE', '/bin/sh')
 DEFAULT_GATHERING         = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'gathering', 'ANSIBLE_GATHERING', 'implicit').lower()
 DEFAULT_GATHER_SUBSET     = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'gather_subset', 'ANSIBLE_GATHER_SUBSET', 'all').lower()
+DEFAULT_GATHER_TIMEOUT    = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'gather_timeout', 'ANSIBLE_GATHER_TIMEOUT', 10, integer=True)
 DEFAULT_LOG_PATH          = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'log_path',           'ANSIBLE_LOG_PATH', '', ispath=True)
 DEFAULT_FORCE_HANDLERS    = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'force_handlers', 'ANSIBLE_FORCE_HANDLERS', False, boolean=True)
 DEFAULT_INVENTORY_IGNORE  = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'inventory_ignore_extensions', 'ANSIBLE_INVENTORY_IGNORE', ["~", ".orig", ".bak", ".ini", ".cfg", ".retry", ".pyc", ".pyo"], islist=True)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/executor/play_iterator.py b/lib/ansible/executor/play_iterator.py
index 4613d75fb6..51d066ead3 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/executor/play_iterator.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/executor/play_iterator.py
@@ -156,10 +156,14 @@ class PlayIterator:
 
         # Default options to gather
         gather_subset = C.DEFAULT_GATHER_SUBSET
+        gather_timeout = C.DEFAULT_GATHER_TIMEOUT
 
         # Retrieve subset to gather
         if self._play.gather_subset is not None:
             gather_subset = self._play.gather_subset
+        # Retrieve timeout for gather
+        if self._play.gather_timeout is not None:
+            gather_timeout = self._play.gather_timeout
 
         setup_block = Block(play=self._play)
         setup_task = Task(block=setup_block)
@@ -168,6 +172,8 @@ class PlayIterator:
         setup_task.args   = {
           'gather_subset': gather_subset,
         }
+        if gather_timeout:
+            setup_task.args['gather_timeout'] = gather_timeout
         setup_task.set_loader(self._play._loader)
         setup_block.block = [setup_task]
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts.py
index 2f4d30c875..f5a8fe9c56 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts.py
@@ -113,15 +113,21 @@ if platform.system() != 'SunOS':
 # timeout function to make sure some fact gathering
 # steps do not exceed a time limit
 
+GATHER_TIMEOUT=None
+
 class TimeoutError(Exception):
     pass
 
 def timeout(seconds=10, error_message="Timer expired"):
+
     def decorator(func):
         def _handle_timeout(signum, frame):
             raise TimeoutError(error_message)
 
         def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
+            if 'GATHER_TIMEOUT' in globals():
+                if GATHER_TIMEOUT:
+                    seconds = GATHER_TIMEOUT
             signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, _handle_timeout)
             signal.alarm(seconds)
             try:
@@ -3225,6 +3231,9 @@ def get_all_facts(module):
     # Retrieve module parameters
     gather_subset = module.params['gather_subset']
 
+    global GATHER_TIMEOUT
+    GATHER_TIMEOUT = module.params['gather_timeout']
+
     # Retrieve all facts elements
     additional_subsets = set()
     exclude_subsets = set()
diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
index 2031465eef..90951e1e18 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/play.py
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ class Play(Base, Taggable, Become):
     # Connection
     _gather_facts        = FieldAttribute(isa='bool', default=None, always_post_validate=True)
     _gather_subset       = FieldAttribute(isa='barelist', default=None, always_post_validate=True)
+    _gather_timeout      = FieldAttribute(isa='int', default=None, always_post_validate=True)
     _hosts               = FieldAttribute(isa='list', required=True, listof=string_types, always_post_validate=True)
     _name                = FieldAttribute(isa='string', default='', always_post_validate=True)