diff --git a/src/main/java/com/verisign/storm/metrics/reporters/graphite/GraphiteReporter.java b/src/main/java/com/verisign/storm/metrics/reporters/graphite/GraphiteReporter.java
index cb7887c..a51cb39 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/verisign/storm/metrics/reporters/graphite/GraphiteReporter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/verisign/storm/metrics/reporters/graphite/GraphiteReporter.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import com.codahale.metrics.graphite.GraphiteUDP;
 import com.google.common.base.Throwables;
 import com.verisign.storm.metrics.reporters.AbstractReporter;
+import com.verisign.storm.metrics.util.ConfigurableSocketFactory;
 import com.verisign.storm.metrics.util.ConnectionFailureException;
 import com.verisign.storm.metrics.util.GraphiteCodec;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 /**
  * This class is a wrapper for the Graphite class in the Metrics library.  It encapsulates the handling of errors that
@@ -36,9 +38,14 @@ public class GraphiteReporter extends AbstractReporter {
 
   private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(GraphiteReporter.class);
   private static final int DEFAULT_MIN_CONNECT_ATTEMPT_INTERVAL_SECS = 5;
+  private static final int DEFAULT_READ_TIMEOUT = (int) TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(60);
+  private static final int DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT = (int) TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(60);
+
   public static final String GRAPHITE_HOST_OPTION = "metrics.graphite.host";
   public static final String GRAPHITE_PORT_OPTION = "metrics.graphite.port";
   public static final String GRAPHITE_PROTOCOL_OPTION = "metrics.graphite.protocol";
+  public static final String GRAPHITE_CONNECT_TIMEOUT = "metrics.graphite.connect.timeout";
+  public static final String GRAPHITE_READ_TIMEOUT = "metrics.graphite.read.timeout";
   public static final String GRAPHITE_MIN_CONNECT_ATTEMPT_INTERVAL_SECS_OPTION
       = "metrics.graphite.min-connect-attempt-interval-secs";
 
@@ -87,7 +94,21 @@ public GraphiteReporter() {
       this.graphite = new GraphiteUDP(graphiteSocketAddr);
     } else {
       // Default TCP client
-      this.graphite = new Graphite(graphiteSocketAddr);
+      int connectTimeout = DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT;
+      if (conf.containsKey(GRAPHITE_CONNECT_TIMEOUT)) {
+        connectTimeout = Integer.parseInt(conf.get(GRAPHITE_CONNECT_TIMEOUT).toString());
+      }
+
+      int readTimeout = DEFAULT_READ_TIMEOUT;
+      if (conf.containsKey(GRAPHITE_READ_TIMEOUT)) {
+        readTimeout = Integer.parseInt(conf.get(GRAPHITE_READ_TIMEOUT).toString());
+      }
+
+      ConfigurableSocketFactory socketFactory = new ConfigurableSocketFactory();
+      socketFactory.setConnectTimeout(connectTimeout);
+      socketFactory.setReadTimeout(readTimeout);
+
+      this.graphite = new Graphite(graphiteSocketAddr, socketFactory);
     }
     lastConnectAttemptTimestampMs = 0;
   }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/verisign/storm/metrics/util/ConfigurableSocketFactory.java b/src/main/java/com/verisign/storm/metrics/util/ConfigurableSocketFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b4c070
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/verisign/storm/metrics/util/ConfigurableSocketFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package com.verisign.storm.metrics.util;
+
+import javax.net.SocketFactory;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
+import java.net.Socket;
+import java.net.SocketException;
+
+public class ConfigurableSocketFactory extends SocketFactory {
+
+    private int connectTimeout = 0;
+    private int readTimeout = 0;
+
+    public void setConnectTimeout(int connectTimeout) {
+        this.connectTimeout = connectTimeout;
+    }
+
+    public void setReadTimeout(int readTimeout) {
+        this.readTimeout = readTimeout;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Socket createSocket(InetAddress host, int port) throws IOException {
+        Socket socket = createConfiguredSocket();
+
+        socket.connect(new InetSocketAddress(host, port), connectTimeout);
+
+        return socket;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Socket createSocket(String host, int port) throws IOException {
+        Socket socket = createConfiguredSocket();
+
+        socket.connect(new InetSocketAddress(host, port), connectTimeout);
+
+        return socket;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Socket createSocket(String host, int port, InetAddress localHost, int localPort) throws IOException {
+        Socket socket = createConfiguredSocket();
+
+        socket.bind(new InetSocketAddress(localHost, localPort));
+        socket.connect(new InetSocketAddress(host, port), connectTimeout);
+
+        return socket;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Socket createSocket(InetAddress host, int port, InetAddress localHost, int localPort) throws IOException {
+        Socket socket = createConfiguredSocket();
+
+        socket.bind(new InetSocketAddress(localHost, localPort));
+        socket.connect(new InetSocketAddress(host, port), connectTimeout);
+
+        return socket;
+    }
+
+    private Socket createConfiguredSocket() throws SocketException {
+        Socket socket = new Socket();
+        socket.setSoTimeout(readTimeout);
+        return socket;
+    }
+}