diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 54afb43a..ade493e4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 ## main / unreleased
 
 * [ENHANCEMENT] New parameter log.format allows to set logging format to logfmt (default) or json (new). #184
+* [ENHANCEMENT] Add a 5 minute timeout to requests to Pods and to the Kubernetes control plane.
 
 ## v0.21.0
 
diff --git a/cmd/rollout-operator/main.go b/cmd/rollout-operator/main.go
index 0d1d6d1a..8b3a8e39 100644
--- a/cmd/rollout-operator/main.go
+++ b/cmd/rollout-operator/main.go
@@ -276,6 +276,10 @@ func buildKubeConfig(apiURL, cfgFile string) (*rest.Config, error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
+		// Set a generous timeout.
+		// We use this client for various HTTP operations against the k8s API and against the StatefulSets.
+		// We want to not be stuck waiting forever on a TCP timeout, but also not interrupt any process the StatefulSets might eb doing.
+		config.Timeout = 5 * time.Minute
 		return config, nil
 	}