diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/MongoDB/Connection.php b/lib/Doctrine/MongoDB/Connection.php
index 0034cc5d..6fa570ab 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/MongoDB/Connection.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/MongoDB/Connection.php
@@ -276,6 +276,9 @@ public function initialize()
         $server = $this->server ?: 'mongodb://localhost:27017';
         $options = $this->options;
 
+        $options = isset($options['timeout']) ? $this->convertConnectTimeout($options) : $options;
+        $options = isset($options['wTimeout']) ? $this->convertWriteTimeout($options) : $options;
+
         $this->mongoClient = $this->retry(function() use ($server, $options) {
             return version_compare(phpversion('mongo'), '1.3.0', '<')
                 ? new \Mongo($server, $options)
@@ -442,4 +445,52 @@ protected function retry(\Closure $retry)
             }
         }
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Converts "timeout" MongoClient constructor option to "connectTimeoutMS"
+     * for driver versions 1.4.0+.
+     *
+     * Note: MongoClient actually allows case-insensitive option names, but
+     * we'll only process the canonical version here.
+     *
+     * @param array $options
+     * @return array
+     */
+    protected function convertConnectTimeout(array $options)
+    {
+        if (version_compare(phpversion('mongo'), '1.4.0', '<')) {
+            return $options;
+        }
+
+        if (isset($options['timeout']) && ! isset($options['connectTimeoutMS'])) {
+            $options['connectTimeoutMS'] = $options['timeout'];
+            unset($options['timeout']);
+        }
+
+        return $options;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Converts "timeout" MongoClient constructor option to "connectTimeoutMS"
+     * for driver versions 1.4.0+.
+     *
+     * Note: MongoClient actually allows case-insensitive option names, but
+     * we'll only process the canonical version here.
+     *
+     * @param array $options
+     * @return array
+     */
+    protected function convertWriteTimeout(array $options)
+    {
+        if (version_compare(phpversion('mongo'), '1.4.0', '<')) {
+            return $options;
+        }
+
+        if (isset($options['wTimeout']) && ! isset($options['wTimeoutMS'])) {
+            $options['wTimeoutMS'] = $options['wTimeout'];
+            unset($options['wTimeout']);
+        }
+
+        return $options;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/MongoDB/Tests/ConnectionTest.php b/tests/Doctrine/MongoDB/Tests/ConnectionTest.php
index 6f95e6a7..161abbc6 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/MongoDB/Tests/ConnectionTest.php
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/MongoDB/Tests/ConnectionTest.php
@@ -206,6 +206,22 @@ public function testToString()
         $this->assertEquals('Test', (string) $conn);
     }
 
+    public function testConnectTimeoutOptionIsConverted()
+    {
+        if (version_compare(phpversion('mongo'), '1.4.0', '<')) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('This test is not applicable to driver versions < 1.4.0');
+        }
+
+        /* Since initialize() creates MongoClient directly, we cannot examine
+         * the options passed to its constructor.
+         *
+         * Note: we do not test "wTimeout" conversion, since the driver does not
+         * raise a deprecation notice for its usage (see: PHP-1079).
+         */
+        $conn = new Connection(null, array('timeout' => 10000));
+        $conn->initialize();
+    }
+
     private function getTestConnection($mongo)
     {
         return new Connection($mongo);