diff --git a/src/browser/atom-application.coffee b/src/browser/atom-application.coffee
index c5242c5aa..c7ac7c27a 100644
--- a/src/browser/atom-application.coffee
+++ b/src/browser/atom-application.coffee
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class AtomApplication
   exit: (status) -> app.exit(status)
 
   constructor: (options) ->
-    {@resourcePath, @devResourcePath, @version, @devMode, @safeMode, @socketPath} = options
+    {@resourcePath, @devResourcePath, @version, @devMode, @safeMode, @socketPath, @timeout} = options
 
     global.atomApplication = this
 
@@ -87,9 +87,9 @@ class AtomApplication
     else
       @loadState() or @openPath(options)
 
-  openWithOptions: ({pathsToOpen, executedFrom, urlsToOpen, test, pidToKillWhenClosed, devMode, safeMode, newWindow, specDirectory, logFile, profileStartup}) ->
+  openWithOptions: ({pathsToOpen, executedFrom, urlsToOpen, test, pidToKillWhenClosed, devMode, safeMode, newWindow, specDirectory, logFile, profileStartup, timeout}) ->
     if test
-      @runTests({headless: true, @resourcePath, executedFrom, specDirectory, pathsToOpen, logFile})
+      @runTests({headless: true, @resourcePath, executedFrom, specDirectory, pathsToOpen, logFile, timeout})
     else if pathsToOpen.length > 0
       @openPaths({pathsToOpen, executedFrom, pidToKillWhenClosed, newWindow, devMode, safeMode, profileStartup})
     else if urlsToOpen.length > 0
@@ -493,7 +493,7 @@ class AtomApplication
   #   :specPath - The directory to load specs from.
   #   :safeMode - A Boolean that, if true, won't run specs from ~/.atom/packages
   #               and ~/.atom/dev/packages, defaults to false.
-  runTests: ({headless, resourcePath, executedFrom, specDirectory, pathsToOpen, logFile, safeMode}) ->
+  runTests: ({headless, resourcePath, executedFrom, specDirectory, pathsToOpen, logFile, safeMode, timeout}) ->
     if resourcePath isnt @resourcePath and not fs.existsSync(resourcePath)
       resourcePath = @resourcePath
 
@@ -517,7 +517,7 @@ class AtomApplication
     isSpec = true
     devMode = true
     safeMode ?= false
-    new AtomWindow({windowInitializationScript, resourcePath, headless, isSpec, devMode, testRunnerPath, legacyTestRunnerPath, testPaths, logFile, safeMode})
+    new AtomWindow({windowInitializationScript, resourcePath, headless, isSpec, devMode, testRunnerPath, legacyTestRunnerPath, testPaths, logFile, safeMode, timeout})
 
   resolveTestRunnerPath: (testPath) ->
     FindParentDir ?= require 'find-parent-dir'
diff --git a/src/browser/atom-window.coffee b/src/browser/atom-window.coffee
index 39350392d..2415e916b 100644
--- a/src/browser/atom-window.coffee
+++ b/src/browser/atom-window.coffee
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ class AtomWindow
   isSpec: null
 
   constructor: (settings={}) ->
-    {@resourcePath, pathToOpen, locationsToOpen, @isSpec, @headless, @safeMode, @devMode} = settings
+    {@resourcePath, pathToOpen, locationsToOpen, @isSpec, @headless, @safeMode, @devMode, @timeout} = settings
     locationsToOpen ?= [{pathToOpen}] if pathToOpen
     locationsToOpen ?= []
 
diff --git a/src/browser/main.coffee b/src/browser/main.coffee
index f0709037d..b86828392 100644
--- a/src/browser/main.coffee
+++ b/src/browser/main.coffee
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ parseCommandLine = ->
   options.alias('s', 'spec-directory').string('s').describe('s', 'Set the directory from which to run package specs (default: Atom\'s spec directory).')
   options.boolean('safe').describe('safe', 'Do not load packages from ~/.atom/packages or ~/.atom/dev/packages.')
   options.alias('t', 'test').boolean('t').describe('t', 'Run the specified specs and exit with error code on failures.')
+  options.string('timeout').describe('timeout', 'When in test mode, waits until the specified time (in minutes) and kills the process (exit code: 130).')
   options.alias('v', 'version').boolean('v').describe('v', 'Print the version.')
   options.alias('w', 'wait').boolean('w').describe('w', 'Wait for window to be closed before returning.')
   options.string('socket-path')
@@ -121,6 +122,7 @@ parseCommandLine = ->
   safeMode = args['safe']
   pathsToOpen = args._
   test = args['test']
+  timeout = args['timeout']
   specDirectory = args['spec-directory']
   newWindow = args['new-window']
   pidToKillWhenClosed = args['pid'] if args['wait']
@@ -158,6 +160,6 @@ parseCommandLine = ->
 
   {resourcePath, devResourcePath, pathsToOpen, urlsToOpen, executedFrom, test,
    version, pidToKillWhenClosed, devMode, safeMode, newWindow, specDirectory,
-   logFile, socketPath, profileStartup}
+   logFile, socketPath, profileStartup, timeout}
 
 start()
diff --git a/src/initialize-test-window.coffee b/src/initialize-test-window.coffee
index 337c48744..d8354a416 100644
--- a/src/initialize-test-window.coffee
+++ b/src/initialize-test-window.coffee
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ try
   path = require 'path'
   ipc = require 'ipc'
   remote = require 'remote'
+  app = remote.require('app')
   {getWindowLoadSettings} = require './window-load-settings-helpers'
   AtomEnvironment = require '../src/atom-environment'
 
@@ -32,6 +33,12 @@ try
 
   document.title = "Spec Suite"
 
+  timeoutCop = null
+  if timeout = getWindowLoadSettings().timeout
+    ChildProcess = remote.require("child_process")
+    timeoutCop = ChildProcess.fork(require.resolve('./timeout-cop'), [remote.process.pid, timeout])
+    app.on "will-exit", -> timeoutCop.kill()
+
   legacyTestRunner = require(getWindowLoadSettings().legacyTestRunnerPath)
   testRunner = require(getWindowLoadSettings().testRunnerPath)
   testRunner({
@@ -41,11 +48,9 @@ try
     buildAtomEnvironment: -> new AtomEnvironment
     legacyTestRunner: legacyTestRunner
   })
-
 catch error
   if getWindowLoadSettings().headless
     console.error(error.stack ? error)
-    app = remote.require('app')
     app.emit('will-exit')
     remote.process.exit(status)
   else
diff --git a/src/timeout-cop.js b/src/timeout-cop.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c684540f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/timeout-cop.js
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+var parentProcessId = process.argv[2];
+var timeoutInMinutes = process.argv[3];
+var timeoutInMilliseconds = timeoutInMinutes * 1000 * 60
+
+function exitTestRunner() {
+  process.kill(parentProcessId, "SIGINT");
+  var errorMessage = "The test suite has timed out because it has been running";
+  errorMessage += " for more than " + timeoutInMinutes + " minutes.";
+  console.log(errorMessage);
+}
+
+setTimeout(exitTestRunner, timeoutInMilliseconds);