diff --git a/config/default.json b/config/default.json
index 6d562fc5..95b5787b 100644
--- a/config/default.json
+++ b/config/default.json
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
   "schedulerIntervalMS": 300000,
   "schedulerStopAfterNoOp": false,
   "pubsubResponderWindowMs": 8035200000,
+  "alertOnLongAnchorMs": 1200000,
   "carStorage": {
     "mode": "inmemory",
     "s3BucketName": "myS3Bucket",
diff --git a/config/env/dev.json b/config/env/dev.json
index f0e9ed76..2557853f 100644
--- a/config/env/dev.json
+++ b/config/env/dev.json
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
   "schedulerIntervalMS": "@@SCHEDULER_INTERVAL_MS",
   "schedulerStopAfterNoOp": "@@SCHEDULER_STOP_AFTER_NO_OP",
   "pubsubResponderWindowMs": "@@PUBSUB_RESPONDER_WINDOW_MS",
+  "alertOnLongAnchorMs": "@@ALERT_ON_LONG_ANCHOR_MS",
   "carStorage": {
     "mode": "@@MERKLE_CAR_STORAGE_MODE",
     "s3BucketName": "@@S3_BUCKET_NAME",
diff --git a/config/env/prod.json b/config/env/prod.json
index f0e9ed76..2557853f 100644
--- a/config/env/prod.json
+++ b/config/env/prod.json
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
   "schedulerIntervalMS": "@@SCHEDULER_INTERVAL_MS",
   "schedulerStopAfterNoOp": "@@SCHEDULER_STOP_AFTER_NO_OP",
   "pubsubResponderWindowMs": "@@PUBSUB_RESPONDER_WINDOW_MS",
+  "alertOnLongAnchorMs": "@@ALERT_ON_LONG_ANCHOR_MS",
   "carStorage": {
     "mode": "@@MERKLE_CAR_STORAGE_MODE",
     "s3BucketName": "@@S3_BUCKET_NAME",
diff --git a/src/services/anchor-service.ts b/src/services/anchor-service.ts
index 4e717295..fa60c4de 100644
--- a/src/services/anchor-service.ts
+++ b/src/services/anchor-service.ts
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ export class AnchorService {
   private readonly maxStreamLimit: number
   private readonly minStreamLimit: number
   private readonly merkleCarFactory: MerkleCarFactory
+  private readonly alertOnLongAnchorMs: number
 
   static inject = [
     'blockchainService',
@@ -167,6 +168,7 @@ export class AnchorService {
     this.merkleDepthLimit = config.merkleDepthLimit
     this.useSmartContractAnchors = config.useSmartContractAnchors
     this.useQueueBatches = Boolean(config.queue.sqsQueueUrl)
+    this.alertOnLongAnchorMs = Number(config.alertOnLongAnchorMs || 1200000) // default 20 minutes
 
     const minStreamCount = Number(config.minStreamCount)
     this.maxStreamLimit = this.merkleDepthLimit > 0 ? Math.pow(2, this.merkleDepthLimit) : 0
@@ -179,8 +181,18 @@ export class AnchorService {
    */
   // TODO: Remove for CAS V2 as we won't need to move PENDING requests to ready. Switch to using anchorReadyRequests.
   async anchorRequests(abortOptions?: AbortOptions): Promise<boolean> {
+    const timeout = setTimeout(() => {
+      Metrics.count(METRIC_NAMES.ANCHOR_TAKING_TOO_LONG, 1)
+    }, this.alertOnLongAnchorMs)
+
+    abortOptions?.signal?.addEventListener('abort', () => {
+      clearTimeout(timeout)
+    })
+
     if (this.useQueueBatches) {
-      return this.anchorNextQueuedBatch(abortOptions)
+      const batchAnchored = await this.anchorNextQueuedBatch(abortOptions)
+      clearTimeout(timeout)
+      return batchAnchored
     } else {
       const readyRequestsCount = await this.requestRepository.countByStatus(RS.READY)
 
@@ -190,6 +202,7 @@ export class AnchorService {
       }
 
       await this.anchorReadyRequests()
+      clearTimeout(timeout)
       return true
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/settings.ts b/src/settings.ts
index acb22c6d..f080aa33 100644
--- a/src/settings.ts
+++ b/src/settings.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ export enum METRIC_NAMES {
   MERKLE_CAR_STORAGE_FAILURE_IPFS = 'merkle_car_storage_failure_ipfs',
   MERKLE_CAR_STORAGE_FAILURE_S3 = 'merkle_car_storage_failure_s3',
   WITNESS_CAR_STORAGE_FAILURE = 'witness_car_storage_failure',
+  ANCHOR_TAKING_TOO_LONG = 'anchor_taking_too_long',
 
   // Transaction repository
   MANY_ATTEMPTS_TO_ACQUIRE_MUTEX = 'many_attempts_to_acquire_mutex',