diff --git a/cmd/tusd/main.go b/cmd/tusd/main.go
index 6ab7e1a..604cc61 100644
--- a/cmd/tusd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/tusd/main.go
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func init() {
 	flag.StringVar(&dir, "dir", "./data", "Directory to store uploads in")
 	flag.Int64Var(&storeSize, "store-size", 0, "Size of space allowed for storage")
 	flag.StringVar(&basepath, "base-path", "/files/", "Basepath of the HTTP server")
-	flag.Int64Var(&timeout, "timeout", 30*1000, "Read timeout for connections in milliseconds")
+	flag.Int64Var(&timeout, "timeout", 30*1000, "Read timeout for connections in milliseconds.  A zero value means that reads will not timeout")
 	flag.StringVar(&s3Bucket, "s3-bucket", "", "Use AWS S3 with this bucket as storage backend (requires the AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY and AWS_REGION environment variables to be set)")
 	flag.StringVar(&hooksDir, "hooks-dir", "", "")
 	flag.BoolVar(&version, "version", false, "Print tusd version information")
@@ -255,18 +255,32 @@ type Conn struct {
 }
 
 func (c *Conn) Read(b []byte) (int, error) {
-	err := c.Conn.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(c.ReadTimeout))
+	var err error
+	if c.ReadTimeout > 0 {
+		err = c.Conn.SetReadDeadline(time.Now().Add(c.ReadTimeout))
+	} else {
+		err = c.Conn.SetReadDeadline(time.Time{})
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
+
 	return c.Conn.Read(b)
 }
 
 func (c *Conn) Write(b []byte) (int, error) {
-	err := c.Conn.SetWriteDeadline(time.Now().Add(c.WriteTimeout))
+	var err error
+	if c.WriteTimeout > 0 {
+		err = c.Conn.SetWriteDeadline(time.Now().Add(c.WriteTimeout))
+	} else {
+		err = c.Conn.SetWriteDeadline(time.Time{})
+	}
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
+
 	return c.Conn.Write(b)
 }