diff --git a/tipbot/config.py.example b/tipbot/config.py.example
index fec0fb4..0d8cf2e 100644
--- a/tipbot/config.py.example
+++ b/tipbot/config.py.example
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ payment_confirmations = 6
 tipbot_balance_cache_time = 35 # seconds
 site_game_salt = ''
 openalias_address = None
+rpc_timeout = 180
 
 admins = ["freenode:moneromooo", "freenode:moneromoo"]
 
diff --git a/tipbot/utils.py b/tipbot/utils.py
index 8e74e37..30300a2 100644
--- a/tipbot/utils.py
+++ b/tipbot/utils.py
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ def StringToUnits(s):
 
 def SendJSONRPCCommand(host,port,method,params):
   try:
-    http = httplib.HTTPConnection(host,port,timeout=20)
+    http = httplib.HTTPConnection(host,port,timeout=config.rpc_timeout)
   except Exception,e:
     log_error('SendJSONRPCCommand: Error connecting to %s:%u: %s' % (host, port, str(e)))
     raise
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ def SendJSONRPCCommand(host,port,method,params):
 
 def SendHTMLCommand(host,port,method):
   try:
-    http = httplib.HTTPConnection(host,port,timeout=20)
+    http = httplib.HTTPConnection(host,port,timeout=config.rpc_timeout)
   except Exception,e:
     log_error('SendHTMLCommand: Error connecting to %s:%u: %s' % (host, port, str(e)))
     raise