diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 356ef5982a..38b61e99d7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -36,4 +36,5 @@ doc/protocol-binary.txt
 /version.m4
 /version.num
 /testapp
+/timedrun
 /doc/doxy
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 62fd1bf23b..76a6a03be3 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 bin_PROGRAMS = memcached
 pkginclude_HEADERS = protocol_binary.h
-noinst_PROGRAMS = memcached-debug sizes testapp
+noinst_PROGRAMS = memcached-debug sizes testapp timedrun
 
 BUILT_SOURCES=
 
 testapp_SOURCES = testapp.c util.c util.h
 
+timedrun_SOURCES = timedrun.c
+
 memcached_SOURCES = memcached.c memcached.h \
                     hash.c hash.h \
                     slabs.c slabs.h \
diff --git a/t/lib/MemcachedTest.pm b/t/lib/MemcachedTest.pm
index c95a4157c3..34d1085c6c 100644
--- a/t/lib/MemcachedTest.pm
+++ b/t/lib/MemcachedTest.pm
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ sub new_memcached {
     croak("memcached binary not executable\n") unless -x _;
 
     unless ($childpid) {
-        exec "$exe $args";
+        exec "$builddir/timedrun 600 $exe $args";
         exit; # never gets here.
     }
 
diff --git a/testapp.c b/testapp.c
index 7c3d3e1a65..c6b46c64b7 100644
--- a/testapp.c
+++ b/testapp.c
@@ -263,9 +263,13 @@ static pid_t start_server(in_port_t *port_out, bool daemon) {
 
     if (pid == 0) {
         /* Child */
-        char *argv[10];
+        char *argv[20];
         int arg = 0;
         putenv(environment);
+        if (!daemon) {
+            argv[arg++] = "./timedrun";
+            argv[arg++] = "15";
+        }
         argv[arg++] = "./memcached-debug";
         argv[arg++] = "-p";
         argv[arg++] = "-1";
@@ -277,7 +281,7 @@ static pid_t start_server(in_port_t *port_out, bool daemon) {
             argv[arg++] = pid_file;
         }
         argv[arg++] = NULL;
-        assert(execv("./memcached-debug", argv) != -1);
+        assert(execv(argv[0], argv) != -1);
     }
 
     /* Yeah just let us "busy-wait" for the file to be created ;-) */
@@ -447,6 +451,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     for (ii = 0; testcases[ii].description != NULL; ++ii) {
         fflush(stdout);
+        alarm(60);
         enum test_return ret = testcases[ii].function();
         if (ret == TEST_SKIP) {
             fprintf(stdout, "ok # SKIP %d - %s\n", ii + 1, testcases[ii].description);
diff --git a/timedrun.c b/timedrun.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5c93ed7516
--- /dev/null
+++ b/timedrun.c
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <signal.h>
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+#include <sysexits.h>
+
+#include <assert.h>
+
+static int caught = 0;
+
+static void caught_signal(int which)
+{
+    caught = which;
+}
+
+static int wait_for_process(pid_t pid)
+{
+    int rv = EX_SOFTWARE;
+    int stats = 0;
+    int i = 0;
+    struct sigaction sig_handler;
+
+    sig_handler.sa_handler = caught_signal;
+    sig_handler.sa_flags = 0;
+
+    sigaction(SIGALRM, &sig_handler, NULL);
+    sigaction(SIGHUP, &sig_handler, NULL);
+    sigaction(SIGINT, &sig_handler, NULL);
+    sigaction(SIGTERM, &sig_handler, NULL);
+    sigaction(SIGPIPE, &sig_handler, NULL);
+
+    /* Loop forever waiting for the process to quit */
+    for (i = 0; ;i++) {
+        pid_t p = waitpid(pid, &stats, 0);
+        if (p == pid) {
+            /* child exited.  Let's get out of here */
+            rv = WIFEXITED(stats) ?
+                WEXITSTATUS(stats) :
+                (0x80 | WTERMSIG(stats));
+            break;
+        } else {
+            int sig = 0;
+            switch (i) {
+            case 0:
+                /* On the first iteration, pass the signal through */
+                sig = caught > 0 ? caught : SIGTERM;
+                break;
+            case 1:
+                sig = SIGTERM;
+                break;
+            default:
+                sig = SIGKILL;
+                break;
+            }
+            if (kill(pid, sig) < 0) {
+                /* Kill failed.  Must have lost the process. :/ */
+                perror("lost child when trying to kill");
+            }
+            /* Wait up to 5 seconds for the pid */
+            alarm(5);
+        }
+    }
+    return rv;
+}
+
+static int spawn_and_wait(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+    int rv = EX_SOFTWARE;
+    pid_t pid = fork();
+
+    assert(argc > 1);
+
+    switch (pid) {
+    case -1:
+        perror("fork");
+        rv = EX_OSERR;
+        break; /* NOTREACHED */
+    case 0:
+        execvp(argv[0], argv);
+        perror("exec");
+        rv = EX_SOFTWARE;
+        break; /* NOTREACHED */
+    default:
+        rv = wait_for_process(pid);
+    }
+    return rv;
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+    int naptime = 0;
+    assert(argc > 2);
+
+    naptime = atoi(argv[1]);
+    assert(naptime > 0 && naptime < 1800);
+
+    alarm(naptime);
+
+    return spawn_and_wait(argc+2, argv+2);
+}