diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 697638236..3ca193004 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ func (c Config) Validate() error {
 		if _, err := utility.StringToDuration(job.GetSdRefreshInterval()); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("Invalid SD refresh interval for job '%s': %s", job.GetName(), err)
 		}
+		if _, err := utility.StringToDuration(job.GetScrapeTimeout()); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Invalid scrape timeout for job '%s': %s", job.GetName(), err)
+		}
 		for _, targetGroup := range job.TargetGroup {
 			if err := c.validateLabels(targetGroup.Labels); err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("Invalid labels for job '%s': %s", job.GetName(), err)
@@ -150,3 +153,8 @@ type JobConfig struct {
 func (c JobConfig) ScrapeInterval() time.Duration {
 	return stringToDuration(c.GetScrapeInterval())
 }
+
+// EvaluationInterval gets the scrape interval for a job.
+func (c JobConfig) ScrapeTimeout() time.Duration {
+	return stringToDuration(c.GetScrapeInterval())
+}
diff --git a/config/config.proto b/config/config.proto
index c36cf5378..ae14a02a5 100644
--- a/config/config.proto
+++ b/config/config.proto
@@ -49,12 +49,18 @@ message TargetGroup {
 }
 
 // The configuration for a Prometheus job to scrape.
+//
+// The next field no. is 8.
 message JobConfig {
 	// The job name. Must adhere to the regex "[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_-]*".
 	required string name = 1;
 	// How frequently to scrape targets from this job. Overrides the global
-	// default.
+	// default. Must be a valid Prometheus duration string in the form
+	// "[0-9]+[smhdwy]".
 	optional string scrape_interval = 2;
+	// Per-target timeout when scraping this job. Must be a valid Prometheus
+	// duration string in the form "[0-9]+[smhdwy]".
+	optional string scrape_timeout = 7 [default = "10s"];
 	// The DNS-SD service name pointing to SRV records containing endpoint
 	// information for a job. When this field is provided, no target_group
 	// elements may be set.
diff --git a/config/generated/config.pb.go b/config/generated/config.pb.go
index cc487e445..a26a02f5e 100644
--- a/config/generated/config.pb.go
+++ b/config/generated/config.pb.go
@@ -13,11 +13,8 @@ var _ = proto.Marshal
 var _ = &json.SyntaxError{}
 var _ = math.Inf
 
-// A label/value pair suitable for attaching to timeseries.
 type LabelPair struct {
-	// The name of the label. Must adhere to the regex "[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*".
-	Name *string `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=name" json:"name,omitempty"`
-	// The value of the label. May contain any characters.
+	Name             *string `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=name" json:"name,omitempty"`
 	Value            *string `protobuf:"bytes,2,opt,name=value" json:"value,omitempty"`
 	XXX_unrecognized []byte  `json:"-"`
 }
@@ -40,7 +37,6 @@ func (m *LabelPair) GetValue() string {
 	return ""
 }
 
-// A set of label/value pairs.
 type LabelPairs struct {
 	Label            []*LabelPair `protobuf:"bytes,1,rep,name=label" json:"label,omitempty"`
 	XXX_unrecognized []byte       `json:"-"`
@@ -57,19 +53,12 @@ func (m *LabelPairs) GetLabel() []*LabelPair {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// The global Prometheus configuration section.
 type GlobalConfig struct {
-	// How frequently to scrape targets by default. Must be a valid Prometheus
-	// duration string in the form "[0-9]+[smhdwy]".
-	ScrapeInterval *string `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=scrape_interval,def=1m" json:"scrape_interval,omitempty"`
-	// How frequently to evaluate rules by default. Must be a valid Prometheus
-	// duration string in the form "[0-9]+[smhdwy]".
-	EvaluationInterval *string `protobuf:"bytes,2,opt,name=evaluation_interval,def=1m" json:"evaluation_interval,omitempty"`
-	// The labels to add to any timeseries that this Prometheus instance scrapes.
-	Labels *LabelPairs `protobuf:"bytes,3,opt,name=labels" json:"labels,omitempty"`
-	// The list of file names of rule files to load.
-	RuleFile         []string `protobuf:"bytes,4,rep,name=rule_file" json:"rule_file,omitempty"`
-	XXX_unrecognized []byte   `json:"-"`
+	ScrapeInterval     *string     `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=scrape_interval,def=1m" json:"scrape_interval,omitempty"`
+	EvaluationInterval *string     `protobuf:"bytes,2,opt,name=evaluation_interval,def=1m" json:"evaluation_interval,omitempty"`
+	Labels             *LabelPairs `protobuf:"bytes,3,opt,name=labels" json:"labels,omitempty"`
+	RuleFile           []string    `protobuf:"bytes,4,rep,name=rule_file" json:"rule_file,omitempty"`
+	XXX_unrecognized   []byte      `json:"-"`
 }
 
 func (m *GlobalConfig) Reset()         { *m = GlobalConfig{} }
@@ -107,11 +96,8 @@ func (m *GlobalConfig) GetRuleFile() []string {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// A labeled group of targets to scrape for a job.
 type TargetGroup struct {
-	// The list of endpoints to scrape via HTTP.
-	Target []string `protobuf:"bytes,1,rep,name=target" json:"target,omitempty"`
-	// The labels to add to any timeseries scraped for this target group.
+	Target           []string    `protobuf:"bytes,1,rep,name=target" json:"target,omitempty"`
 	Labels           *LabelPairs `protobuf:"bytes,2,opt,name=labels" json:"labels,omitempty"`
 	XXX_unrecognized []byte      `json:"-"`
 }
@@ -134,32 +120,22 @@ func (m *TargetGroup) GetLabels() *LabelPairs {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// The configuration for a Prometheus job to scrape.
 type JobConfig struct {
-	// The job name. Must adhere to the regex "[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_-]*".
-	Name *string `protobuf:"bytes,1,req,name=name" json:"name,omitempty"`
-	// How frequently to scrape targets from this job. Overrides the global
-	// default.
-	ScrapeInterval *string `protobuf:"bytes,2,opt,name=scrape_interval" json:"scrape_interval,omitempty"`
-	// The DNS-SD service name pointing to SRV records containing endpoint
-	// information for a job. When this field is provided, no target_group
-	// elements may be set.
-	SdName *string `protobuf:"bytes,3,opt,name=sd_name" json:"sd_name,omitempty"`
-	// Discovery refresh period when using DNS-SD to discover targets. Must be a
-	// valid Prometheus duration string in the form "[0-9]+[smhdwy]".
-	SdRefreshInterval *string `protobuf:"bytes,4,opt,name=sd_refresh_interval,def=30s" json:"sd_refresh_interval,omitempty"`
-	// List of labeled target groups for this job. Only legal when DNS-SD isn't
-	// used for a job.
-	TargetGroup []*TargetGroup `protobuf:"bytes,5,rep,name=target_group" json:"target_group,omitempty"`
-	// The HTTP resource path to fetch metrics from on targets.
-	MetricsPath      *string `protobuf:"bytes,6,opt,name=metrics_path,def=/metrics.json" json:"metrics_path,omitempty"`
-	XXX_unrecognized []byte  `json:"-"`
+	Name              *string        `protobuf:"bytes,1,req,name=name" json:"name,omitempty"`
+	ScrapeInterval    *string        `protobuf:"bytes,2,opt,name=scrape_interval" json:"scrape_interval,omitempty"`
+	ScrapeTimeout     *string        `protobuf:"bytes,7,opt,name=scrape_timeout,def=10s" json:"scrape_timeout,omitempty"`
+	SdName            *string        `protobuf:"bytes,3,opt,name=sd_name" json:"sd_name,omitempty"`
+	SdRefreshInterval *string        `protobuf:"bytes,4,opt,name=sd_refresh_interval,def=30s" json:"sd_refresh_interval,omitempty"`
+	TargetGroup       []*TargetGroup `protobuf:"bytes,5,rep,name=target_group" json:"target_group,omitempty"`
+	MetricsPath       *string        `protobuf:"bytes,6,opt,name=metrics_path,def=/metrics.json" json:"metrics_path,omitempty"`
+	XXX_unrecognized  []byte         `json:"-"`
 }
 
 func (m *JobConfig) Reset()         { *m = JobConfig{} }
 func (m *JobConfig) String() string { return proto.CompactTextString(m) }
 func (*JobConfig) ProtoMessage()    {}
 
+const Default_JobConfig_ScrapeTimeout string = "10s"
 const Default_JobConfig_SdRefreshInterval string = "30s"
 const Default_JobConfig_MetricsPath string = "/metrics.json"
 
@@ -177,6 +153,13 @@ func (m *JobConfig) GetScrapeInterval() string {
 	return ""
 }
 
+func (m *JobConfig) GetScrapeTimeout() string {
+	if m != nil && m.ScrapeTimeout != nil {
+		return *m.ScrapeTimeout
+	}
+	return Default_JobConfig_ScrapeTimeout
+}
+
 func (m *JobConfig) GetSdName() string {
 	if m != nil && m.SdName != nil {
 		return *m.SdName
@@ -205,15 +188,10 @@ func (m *JobConfig) GetMetricsPath() string {
 	return Default_JobConfig_MetricsPath
 }
 
-// The top-level Prometheus configuration.
 type PrometheusConfig struct {
-	// Global Prometheus configuration options. If omitted, an empty global
-	// configuration with default values (see GlobalConfig definition) will be
-	// created.
-	Global *GlobalConfig `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=global" json:"global,omitempty"`
-	// The list of jobs to scrape.
-	Job              []*JobConfig `protobuf:"bytes,2,rep,name=job" json:"job,omitempty"`
-	XXX_unrecognized []byte       `json:"-"`
+	Global           *GlobalConfig `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=global" json:"global,omitempty"`
+	Job              []*JobConfig  `protobuf:"bytes,2,rep,name=job" json:"job,omitempty"`
+	XXX_unrecognized []byte        `json:"-"`
 }
 
 func (m *PrometheusConfig) Reset()         { *m = PrometheusConfig{} }
diff --git a/retrieval/target_provider.go b/retrieval/target_provider.go
index 8089bc70d..d853d0c03 100644
--- a/retrieval/target_provider.go
+++ b/retrieval/target_provider.go
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func (p *sdTargetProvider) Targets() ([]Target, error) {
 			addr.Target = addr.Target[:len(addr.Target)-1]
 		}
 		endpoint.Host = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", addr.Target, addr.Port)
-		t := NewTarget(endpoint.String(), time.Second*5, baseLabels)
+		t := NewTarget(endpoint.String(), p.job.ScrapeTimeout(), baseLabels)
 		targets = append(targets, t)
 	}
 
diff --git a/retrieval/targetmanager.go b/retrieval/targetmanager.go
index 675f02e4a..5c0a62e25 100644
--- a/retrieval/targetmanager.go
+++ b/retrieval/targetmanager.go
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 package retrieval
 
 import (
-	"time"
-
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/extraction"
 
@@ -110,7 +108,7 @@ func (m *targetManager) AddTargetsFromConfig(config config.Config) {
 			}
 
 			for _, endpoint := range targetGroup.Target {
-				target := NewTarget(endpoint, time.Second*5, baseLabels)
+				target := NewTarget(endpoint, job.ScrapeTimeout(), baseLabels)
 				m.AddTarget(job, target)
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/web/api/targets.go b/web/api/targets.go
index 2dd19874c..f846fce1c 100644
--- a/web/api/targets.go
+++ b/web/api/targets.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ package api
 
 import (
 	"net/http"
-	"time"
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
@@ -47,7 +46,7 @@ func (serv MetricsService) SetTargets(targetGroups []TargetGroup, jobName string
 		}
 
 		for _, endpoint := range targetGroup.Endpoints {
-			newTarget := retrieval.NewTarget(endpoint, time.Second*5, baseLabels)
+			newTarget := retrieval.NewTarget(endpoint, job.ScrapeTimeout(), baseLabels)
 			newTargets = append(newTargets, newTarget)
 		}
 	}