diff --git a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/hipchat/StandardHipChatService.java b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/hipchat/StandardHipChatService.java
index cfb850f..f5fe675 100644
--- a/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/hipchat/StandardHipChatService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/jenkins/plugins/hipchat/StandardHipChatService.java
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@
 
 public class StandardHipChatService implements HipChatService {
 
+    /**
+     * HTTP Connection timeout when making calls to HipChat
+     */
+    public static final Integer DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 10000;
     private static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(StandardHipChatService.class.getName());
     private static final String[] DEFAULT_ROOMS = new String[0];
 
@@ -60,6 +64,8 @@ public void publish(String message, String color) {
 
     private HttpClient getHttpClient() {
         HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
+        client.getHttpConnectionManager().getParams().setConnectionTimeout(DEFAULT_TIMEOUT);
+        client.getHttpConnectionManager().getParams().setSoTimeout(DEFAULT_TIMEOUT);
 
         if (Jenkins.getInstance() != null) {
             ProxyConfiguration proxy = Jenkins.getInstance().proxy;