diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index d2576f2b9..50bd204fe 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ Config/needs/dependencies:
     pkgbuild,
     r-lib/pkgcache,
     r-lib/pkgdepends,
-    pkgsearch,
+    r-hub/pkgsearch,
     processx,
     ps,
 Config/Needs/website:
diff --git a/src/library/pkgsearch/DESCRIPTION b/src/library/pkgsearch/DESCRIPTION
index dfd019d70..2b0d9fb50 100644
--- a/src/library/pkgsearch/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/src/library/pkgsearch/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: pkgsearch
 Title: Search and Query CRAN R Packages
-Version: 3.1.3
+Version: 3.1.3.9000
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Gábor", "Csárdi", , "csardi.gabor@gmail.com", role = c("aut", "cre")),
     person("Maëlle", "Salmon", role = "aut",
@@ -22,12 +22,11 @@ Suggests: covr, memoise, mockery, pillar, pingr (>= 2.0.0), rstudioapi,
         withr
 Config/testthat/edition: 3
 Encoding: UTF-8
-RoxygenNote: 7.2.0.9000
+Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
+RoxygenNote: 7.3.1.9000
 NeedsCompilation: no
-Packaged: 2023-12-10 13:34:02 UTC; gaborcsardi
+Packaged: 2024-09-24 07:38:50 UTC; gaborcsardi
 Author: Gábor Csárdi [aut, cre],
   Maëlle Salmon [aut] (<https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2815-0399>),
   R Consortium [fnd]
 Maintainer: Gábor Csárdi <csardi.gabor@gmail.com>
-Repository: CRAN
-Date/Publication: 2023-12-10 14:00:03 UTC
diff --git a/src/library/pkgsearch/NEWS.md b/src/library/pkgsearch/NEWS.md
index 4909db5a3..7fde0821f 100644
--- a/src/library/pkgsearch/NEWS.md
+++ b/src/library/pkgsearch/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+# pkgsearch (development version)
+
+* pkgsearch now uses the `timeout` option to set the limit for the total
+  time of each HTTP request (#125, @gladkia).
+
 # pkgsearch 3.1.3
 
 * No user visible changes.
diff --git a/src/library/pkgsearch/R/advanced_search.R b/src/library/pkgsearch/R/advanced_search.R
index 1a9b007d5..9ed2da180 100644
--- a/src/library/pkgsearch/R/advanced_search.R
+++ b/src/library/pkgsearch/R/advanced_search.R
@@ -92,10 +92,9 @@ advanced_search <- function(..., json = NULL, format = c("short", "long"),
     qstr <- json
   }
 
-  server <- Sys.getenv("R_PKG_SEARCH_SERVER", "search.r-pkg.org")
-  port <- as.integer(Sys.getenv("R_PKG_SEARCH_PORT", "80"))
+  server <- Sys.getenv("R_PKG_SEARCH_SERVER", "https://search.r-pkg.org")
 
-  resp <- do_query(qstr, server, port, from, size)
+  resp <- do_query(qstr, server, from, size)
 
   result <- format_result(
     resp,
@@ -104,7 +103,6 @@ advanced_search <- function(..., json = NULL, format = c("short", "long"),
     from = from,
     size = size,
     server = server,
-    port = port,
     qstr = qstr
   )
 
diff --git a/src/library/pkgsearch/R/api.R b/src/library/pkgsearch/R/api.R
index 9d8e7c869..7bc884d5b 100644
--- a/src/library/pkgsearch/R/api.R
+++ b/src/library/pkgsearch/R/api.R
@@ -68,10 +68,9 @@ pkg_search <- function(query = NULL, format = c("short", "long"),
 
   if (is.null(query)) return(pkg_search_again())
   format <- match.arg(format)
-  server <- Sys.getenv("R_PKG_SEARCH_SERVER", "search.r-pkg.org")
-  port <- as.integer(Sys.getenv("R_PKG_SEARCH_PORT", "80"))
+  server <- Sys.getenv("R_PKG_SEARCH_SERVER", "https://search.r-pkg.org")
 
-  make_pkg_search(query, format, from, size, server, port)
+  make_pkg_search(query, format, from, size, server)
 }
 
 #' @rdname pkg_search
@@ -79,13 +78,12 @@ pkg_search <- function(query = NULL, format = c("short", "long"),
 
 ps <- pkg_search
 
-make_pkg_search <- function(query, format, from, size, server, port) {
+make_pkg_search <- function(query, format, from, size, server) {
 
   qry <- make_query(query = query)
-  rsp <- do_query(qry, server = server, port = port, from = from,
-                  size = size)
+  rsp <- do_query(qry, server = server, from = from, size = size)
   rst <- format_result(rsp, query = query, format = format, from = from,
-                       size = size, server = server, port = port)
+                       size = size, server = server)
 
   s_data$prev_q <- list(type = "simple", result = rst)
 
@@ -108,8 +106,7 @@ more <- function(format = NULL, size = NULL) {
       format = format %||% meta(rst)$format,
       from = meta(rst)$from + meta(rst)$size,
       size = size %||% meta(rst)$size,
-      server = meta(rst)$server,
-      port = meta(rst)$port
+      server = meta(rst)$server
     )
 
   } else if (s_data$prev_q$type == "advanced") {
@@ -183,17 +180,20 @@ make_query <- function(query) {
   )
 }
 
-do_query <- function(query, server, port, from, size) {
+do_query <- function(query, server, from, size) {
 
   check_count(from)
   check_count(size)
 
-  url <- "http://" %+% server %+% ":" %+% as.character(port) %+%
-    "/package/_search?from=" %+% as.character(from - 1) %+%
-    "&size=" %+% as.character(size)
+  # timeout for the curl's connect phase (in seconds)
+  timeout <- getOption("timeout", 60)
+
+  url <- server %+% "/package/_search?from=" %+%
+    as.character(from - 1) %+% "&size=" %+% as.character(size)
   result <- http_post(
     url, body = query,
-    headers = c("Content-Type" = "application/json"))
+    headers = c("Content-Type" = "application/json"),
+    options = list(timeout = timeout))
   chain_error(
     http_stop_for_status(result),
     new_query_error(result, "search server failure")
@@ -236,8 +236,7 @@ print.pkgsearch_query_error <- function(x, ...) {
   invisible(x)
 }
 
-format_result <- function(result, query, format, from, size, server,
-                          port, ...) {
+format_result <- function(result, query, format, from, size, server, ...) {
   result <- jsonlite::fromJSON(result, simplifyVector = FALSE)
 
   meta <- list(
@@ -246,7 +245,6 @@ format_result <- function(result, query, format, from, size, server,
     from = from,
     size = size,
     server = server,
-    port = port,
     total = result$hits$total,
     max_score = result$hits$max_score,
     took = result$took,
diff --git a/src/library/pkgsearch/R/http.R b/src/library/pkgsearch/R/http.R
index 921bec382..59e4b61cd 100644
--- a/src/library/pkgsearch/R/http.R
+++ b/src/library/pkgsearch/R/http.R
@@ -1,3 +1,21 @@
+get_default_curl_options <- function(options) {
+  getopt <- function(nm) {
+    if (!is.null(v <- options[[nm]])) return(v)
+    anm <- paste0("async_http_", nm)
+    if (!is.null(v <- getOption(anm))) return(v)
+    if (!is.na(v <- Sys.getenv(toupper(anm), NA_character_))) return (v)
+  }
+  modifyList(
+    options,
+    drop_nulls(list(
+      timeout = as.integer(getopt("timeout") %||% 0),
+      connecttimeout = as.integer(getopt("connecttimeout") %||% 300),
+      low_speed_time = as.integer(getopt("low_speed_time") %||% 0),
+      low_speed_limit = as.integer(getopt("low_speed_limit") %||% 0),
+      cainfo = getopt("cainfo")
+    ))
+  )
+}
 
 http_get <- function(url) {
   curl::curl_fetch_memory(url)
diff --git a/src/library/pkgsearch/R/utils.R b/src/library/pkgsearch/R/utils.R
index 9749c850a..14019dacf 100644
--- a/src/library/pkgsearch/R/utils.R
+++ b/src/library/pkgsearch/R/utils.R
@@ -80,9 +80,9 @@ contains <- function(x, y) y %in% x
 isin <- function(x, y) x %in% y
 
 remove_special <- function(list, level = 1) {
-  
+
   assert_that(is_positive_count(level))
-  
+
   if (level == 1) {
     replace(
       grepl(pattern = "^_", names(list)),
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ remove_special <- function(list, level = 1) {
   } else {
     lapply(list, remove_special, level = level - 1)
   }
-  
+
 }
 
 pluck <- function(list, idx) list[[idx]]
@@ -104,9 +104,9 @@ needs_packages <- function(pkgs) {
 
   if (!all(has)) {
     not_installed_pkgs <- pkgs[!has]
-    
+
     if (length(not_installed_pkgs) == 1) {
-      
+
       throw(new_error(
         "The ",
         sQuote(not_installed_pkgs),
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ needs_packages <- function(pkgs) {
         call. = FALSE
       ))
     } else {
-      
+
       throw(new_error(
         "The ",
         paste(sQuote(not_installed_pkgs), collapse = ", "),
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ needs_packages <- function(pkgs) {
         call. = FALSE
       ))
     }
-    
+
   }
 }
 
@@ -133,3 +133,7 @@ clean_description <- function(txt) {
 zap_null <- function(x) {
   x[! map_lgl(x, is.null)]
 }
+
+drop_nulls <- function (x) {
+  x[!map_lgl(x, is.null)]
+}