diff --git a/go/mysql/server.go b/go/mysql/server.go
index c32f0d6d85f..7a5d61c8f18 100644
--- a/go/mysql/server.go
+++ b/go/mysql/server.go
@@ -331,8 +331,10 @@ func (l *Listener) Accept() {
 // handle is called in a go routine for each client connection.
 // FIXME(alainjobart) handle per-connection logs in a way that makes sense.
 func (l *Listener) handle(conn net.Conn, connectionID uint32, acceptTime time.Time) {
+	var connWithTimeouts netutil.ConnWithTimeouts
 	if l.connReadTimeout != 0 || l.connWriteTimeout != 0 {
-		conn = netutil.NewConnWithTimeouts(conn, l.connReadTimeout, l.connWriteTimeout)
+		connWithTimeouts = netutil.NewConnWithTimeouts(conn, l.connReadTimeout, l.connWriteTimeout)
+		conn = connWithTimeouts
 	}
 	c := newServerConn(conn, l)
 	c.ConnectionID = connectionID
@@ -519,6 +521,8 @@ func (l *Listener) handle(conn net.Conn, connectionID uint32, acceptTime time.Ti
 	l.handler.ConnectionReady(c)
 
 	for {
+		waitTimeout := 10 * time.Second
+		(&connWithTimeouts).SetNextReadTimeout(waitTimeout)
 		kontinue := c.handleNextCommand(l.handler)
 		if !kontinue {
 			return
diff --git a/go/netutil/conn.go b/go/netutil/conn.go
index e4f8ab7ebe2..ddf3475a0ba 100644
--- a/go/netutil/conn.go
+++ b/go/netutil/conn.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ var _ net.Conn = (*ConnWithTimeouts)(nil)
 // A ConnWithTimeouts is a wrapper to net.Comm that allows to set a read and write timeouts.
 type ConnWithTimeouts struct {
 	net.Conn
+	nextReadTimeout  time.Duration
 	readTimeout  time.Duration
 	writeTimeout time.Duration
 }
@@ -36,13 +37,16 @@ func NewConnWithTimeouts(conn net.Conn, readTimeout time.Duration, writeTimeout
 
 // Read sets a read deadilne and delegates to conn.Read.
 func (c ConnWithTimeouts) Read(b []byte) (int, error) {
-	if c.readTimeout == 0 {
+	if c.nextReadTimeout == 0 {
 		return c.Conn.Read(b)
 	}
-	if err := c.Conn.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(c.readTimeout)); err != nil {
+	if err := c.Conn.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(c.nextReadTimeout)); err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
-	return c.Conn.Read(b)
+	n, err := c.Conn.Read(b)
+	// how do I reset the read timeout here without a pointer receiver?
+	c.nextReadTimeout = c.readTimeout
+	return n, err
 }
 
 // Write sets a write deadline and delegates to conn.Write
@@ -56,6 +60,10 @@ func (c ConnWithTimeouts) Write(b []byte) (int, error) {
 	return c.Conn.Write(b)
 }
 
+func (c *ConnWithTimeouts) SetNextReadTimeout(timeout time.Duration) {
+	c.nextReadTimeout = timeout
+}
+
 // SetDeadline implements the Conn SetDeadline method.
 func (c ConnWithTimeouts) SetDeadline(t time.Time) error {
 	panic("can't call SetDeadline for ConnWithTimeouts")