diff --git a/connect.go b/connect.go
index 274a41ee..2bf3cede 100644
--- a/connect.go
+++ b/connect.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
+	"time"
 )
 
 // Version is the semantic version of the connect module.
@@ -319,6 +320,8 @@ type Spec struct {
 	Procedure        string // for example, "/acme.foo.v1.FooService/Bar"
 	IsClient         bool   // otherwise we're in a handler
 	IdempotencyLevel IdempotencyLevel
+	ReadTimeout      time.Duration
+	WriteTimeout     time.Duration
 }
 
 // Peer describes the other party to an RPC.
diff --git a/handler.go b/handler.go
index e33934ea..4c883adc 100644
--- a/handler.go
+++ b/handler.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ package connect
 import (
 	"context"
 	"net/http"
+	"time"
 )
 
 // A Handler is the server-side implementation of a single RPC defined by a
@@ -253,6 +254,12 @@ func NewBidiStreamHandler[Req, Res any](
 
 // ServeHTTP implements [http.Handler].
 func (h *Handler) ServeHTTP(responseWriter http.ResponseWriter, request *http.Request) {
+	if h.spec.ReadTimeout != 0 {
+		rc := http.NewResponseController(responseWriter)
+		rc.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(h.spec.ReadTimeout))
+		rc.SetWriteDeadline(time.Now().Add(h.spec.WriteTimeout))
+	}
+
 	// We don't need to defer functions to close the request body or read to
 	// EOF: the stream we construct later on already does that, and we only
 	// return early when dealing with misbehaving clients. In those cases, it's
@@ -348,6 +355,8 @@ type handlerConfig struct {
 	ReadMaxBytes                 int
 	SendMaxBytes                 int
 	StreamType                   StreamType
+	ReadTimeout                  time.Duration
+	WriteTimeout                 time.Duration
 }
 
 func newHandlerConfig(procedure string, streamType StreamType, options []HandlerOption) *handlerConfig {
@@ -374,6 +383,8 @@ func (c *handlerConfig) newSpec() Spec {
 		Schema:           c.Schema,
 		StreamType:       c.StreamType,
 		IdempotencyLevel: c.IdempotencyLevel,
+		ReadTimeout:      c.ReadTimeout,
+		WriteTimeout:     c.WriteTimeout,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/option.go b/option.go
index fe0a2cd9..d4831bc1 100644
--- a/option.go
+++ b/option.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
+	"time"
 )
 
 // A ClientOption configures a [Client].
@@ -351,6 +352,34 @@ func WithInterceptors(interceptors ...Interceptor) Option {
 	return &interceptorsOption{interceptors}
 }
 
+// WithReadTimeout option specifies the maximum amount of time that a service 
+// handler is allowed to take when reading a message in a stream.
+// If the total time exceeds WithReadTimeout, then that particular stream is 
+// closed.
+// This enables the user to close only that particular stream instead of the 
+// entire connection.
+// This prevents malicious or slow clients from using up resources.
+// This option is passed to the handler config and then to the spec. 
+// Finally, ServeHTTP function of the handler reads the timeout values from 
+// the spec and enforces them using ResponseController.
+func WithReadTimeout(value time.Duration) HandlerOption {
+	return &readTimeoutOption{value: value}
+}
+
+// WithWriteTimeout option specifies the maximum amount of time that a service 
+// handler is allowed to take when writing a message to a stream.
+// If the total time exceeds WithReadTimeout, then that particular stream is 
+// closed.
+// This enables the user to close only that particular stream instead of the 
+// entire connection.
+// This prevents malicious or slow clients from using up resources.
+// This option is passed to the handler config and then to the spec. 
+// Finally, ServeHTTP function of the handler reads the timeout values from 
+// the spec and enforces them using ResponseController.
+func WithWriteTimeout(value time.Duration) HandlerOption {
+	return &writeTimeoutOption{value: value}
+}
+
 // WithOptions composes multiple Options into one.
 func WithOptions(options ...Option) Option {
 	return &optionsOption{options}
@@ -645,3 +674,15 @@ func (o *conditionalHandlerOptions) applyToHandler(config *handlerConfig) {
 		option.applyToHandler(config)
 	}
 }
+
+type readTimeoutOption struct{ value time.Duration }
+
+func (o *readTimeoutOption) applyToHandler(config *handlerConfig) {
+	config.ReadTimeout = o.value
+}
+
+type writeTimeoutOption struct{ value time.Duration }
+
+func (o *writeTimeoutOption) applyToHandler(config *handlerConfig) {
+	config.WriteTimeout = o.value
+}