diff --git a/cmd/helm/get.go b/cmd/helm/get.go
index e5dcfe921..4fd0d5c5e 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/get.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/get.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 
 	"github.com/codegangsta/cli"
-	"github.com/deis/helm-dm/dm"
 	"github.com/deis/helm-dm/format"
 )
 
@@ -22,10 +21,7 @@ func get(c *cli.Context) error {
 		return errors.New("First argument, deployment name, is required. Try 'helm get --help'")
 	}
 	name := args[0]
-	host := c.GlobalString("host")
-	client := dm.NewClient(host).SetDebug(c.GlobalBool("debug"))
-
-	deployment, err := client.GetDeployment(name)
+	deployment, err := client(c).GetDeployment(name)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/helm/helm.go b/cmd/helm/helm.go
index b84d03fbc..268498ea6 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/helm.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/helm.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/codegangsta/cli"
+	"github.com/deis/helm-dm/dm"
 	"github.com/deis/helm-dm/format"
 )
 
@@ -24,6 +25,11 @@ func main() {
 			EnvVar: "HELM_HOST",
 			Value:  "https://localhost:8181/FIXME_NOT_RIGHT",
 		},
+		cli.IntFlag{
+			Name:  "timeout",
+			Usage: "Time in seconds to wait for response",
+			Value: 10,
+		},
 		cli.BoolFlag{
 			Name:  "debug",
 			Usage: "Enable verbose debugging output",
@@ -184,3 +190,10 @@ func run(c *cli.Context, f func(c *cli.Context) error) {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 }
+
+func client(c *cli.Context) *dm.Client {
+	host := c.GlobalString("host")
+	debug := c.GlobalBool("debug")
+	timeout := c.GlobalInt("timeout")
+	return dm.NewClient(host).SetDebug(debug).SetTimeout(timeout)
+}
diff --git a/cmd/helm/list.go b/cmd/helm/list.go
index 24f200a5b..70d2abb30 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/list.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/list.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"github.com/codegangsta/cli"
-	"github.com/deis/helm-dm/dm"
 	"github.com/deis/helm-dm/format"
 )
 
@@ -15,9 +14,7 @@ func listCmd() cli.Command {
 }
 
 func list(c *cli.Context) error {
-	host := c.GlobalString("host")
-	client := dm.NewClient(host).SetDebug(c.GlobalBool("debug"))
-	list, err := client.ListDeployments()
+	list, err := client(c).ListDeployments()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/dm/client.go b/dm/client.go
index fbc6b46f4..b95a59356 100644
--- a/dm/client.go
+++ b/dm/client.go
@@ -69,6 +69,12 @@ func (c *Client) SetTransport(tr http.RoundTripper) *Client {
 	return c
 }
 
+// SetTimeout sets a timeout for http connections
+func (c *Client) SetTimeout(seconds int) *Client {
+	c.HTTPTimeout = time.Duration(time.Duration(seconds) * time.Second)
+	return c
+}
+
 // url constructs the URL.
 func (c *Client) url(rawurl string) (string, error) {
 	u, err := url.Parse(rawurl)