diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 57cd2d84e5ae..f20ab3a98729 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ static void set_platform_info(nv3p_platform_info_t *info);
 static uint32_t get_op_mode(void);
 
 static nv3p_platform_info_t *g_platform_info = NULL;
+extern uint32_t usb_timeout;
 
 enum cmdline_opts {
 	OPT_BCT,
@@ -105,6 +106,7 @@ enum cmdline_opts {
 	OPT_SIGNED_MSGS_FILE,
 	OPT_SOC,
 	OPT_DOWNLOAD_SIGNED_MSGS,
+	OPT_USB_TIMEOUT,
 	OPT_END,
 };
 
@@ -155,6 +157,8 @@ static void usage(char *progname)
 	fprintf(stderr, "\t\tSpecify Tegra SoC chip model number, ie, 124.\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "\t--download-signed-msgs\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "\t\tDownload signed messages\n");
+	fprintf(stderr, "\t--usb-timeout=<timeout_ms>\n");
+	fprintf(stderr, "\t\tSpecify usb transfer timeout value in ms, 0 for unlimited timeout\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "\n");
 }
 
@@ -259,6 +263,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		[OPT_SIGNED_MSGS_FILE] = {"signed-msgs-file", 1, 0, 0},
 		[OPT_SOC]        = {"soc", 1, 0, 0},
 		[OPT_DOWNLOAD_SIGNED_MSGS] = {"download-signed-msgs", 0, 0, 0},
+		[OPT_USB_TIMEOUT] = {"usb-timeout", 1, 0, 0},
 		[OPT_END]        = {0, 0, 0, 0}
 	};
 	// parse command line args
@@ -316,6 +321,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			case OPT_DOWNLOAD_SIGNED_MSGS:
 				download_signed_msgs = true;
 				break;
+			case OPT_USB_TIMEOUT:
+				usb_timeout = strtoul(optarg, NULL, 0);
+				break;
 			case OPT_HELP:
 			default:
 				usage(argv[0]);
diff --git a/src/usb.c b/src/usb.c
index 8a367426b29c..5bed1efd7a21 100644
--- a/src/usb.c
+++ b/src/usb.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2011, NVIDIA CORPORATION
+ * Copyright (c) 2011-2016, NVIDIA CORPORATION
  * All rights reserved.
  *
  * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 
 #define USB_XFER_MAX 4096
 
+uint32_t usb_timeout = USB_TIMEOUT;
 //
 // returns 1 if the specified usb device matches the vendor id
 //
@@ -307,7 +308,7 @@ int usb_write(usb_device_t *usb, uint8_t *buf, int len)
 	while (len) {
 		chunk_size = MIN(len, USB_XFER_MAX);
 		ret = libusb_bulk_transfer(usb->handle, usb->endpt_out, buf,
-					   chunk_size, &actual_chunk, USB_TIMEOUT);
+					   chunk_size, &actual_chunk, usb_timeout);
 		if (ret != LIBUSB_SUCCESS) {
 			dprintf("libusb write failure: %d: %s\n", ret, libusb_error_name(ret));
 			return EIO;
@@ -334,7 +335,7 @@ int usb_read(usb_device_t *usb, uint8_t *buf, int len, int *actual_len)
 	while (len) {
 		chunk_size = MIN(len, USB_XFER_MAX);
 		ret = libusb_bulk_transfer(usb->handle, usb->endpt_in, buf,
-					   chunk_size, &actual_chunk, USB_TIMEOUT);
+					   chunk_size, &actual_chunk, usb_timeout);
 		if (ret != LIBUSB_SUCCESS) {
 			dprintf("libusb read failure: %d: %s\n", ret, libusb_error_name(ret));
 			return EIO;