diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6f35da1b..c669a641 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ WEBPACK_LOADER = {
         'BUNDLE_DIR_NAME': 'webpack_bundles/', # must end with slash
         'STATS_FILE': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'webpack-stats.json'),
         'POLL_INTERVAL': 0.1,
-        'TIMEOUT': None,
+        'TIMEOUT': 5,
         'IGNORE': [r'.+\.hot-update.js', r'.+\.map'],
         'LOADER_CLASS': 'webpack_loader.loader.WebpackLoader',
     }
diff --git a/webpack_loader/config.py b/webpack_loader/config.py
index 213df350..55c7ed01 100644
--- a/webpack_loader/config.py
+++ b/webpack_loader/config.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
         'STATS_FILE': 'webpack-stats.json',
         # FIXME: Explore usage of fsnotify
         'POLL_INTERVAL': 0.1,
-        'TIMEOUT': None,
+        'TIMEOUT': 5,
         'IGNORE': ['.+\.hot-update.js', '.+\.map'],
         'LOADER_CLASS': 'webpack_loader.loader.WebpackLoader',
     }