diff --git a/collectors/charts.d.plugin/charts.d.plugin.in b/collectors/charts.d.plugin/charts.d.plugin.in
index 05a63875b32577..ca09f20b3f763a 100755
--- a/collectors/charts.d.plugin/charts.d.plugin.in
+++ b/collectors/charts.d.plugin/charts.d.plugin.in
@@ -76,6 +76,17 @@ debug() {
 	[ $debug -eq 1 ] && log DEBUG "${@}"
 }
 
+os_version() {
+	OS_VERSION="unknown"
+	OS_FILE="/etc/os-release"
+	info "Detecting OS version"
+
+	[ -f ${OS_FILE} ] && OS_VERSION=$(cat ${OS_FILE} | grep '^ID=' | sed -e 's/ID=//g')
+
+	info "Detected OS version: ${OS_VERSION}"
+	echo ${OS_VERSION}
+}
+
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # check a few commands
 
@@ -281,7 +292,14 @@ run() {
 	if [ "z${1}" = "z-t" -a "${2}" != "0" ]; then
 		t="${2}"
 		shift 2
-		timeout ${t} "${@}" 2>"${TMP_DIR}/run.${pid}"
+		case "$(os_version)" in
+		"alpine")
+			timeout -t ${t} "${@}" 2>"${TMP_DIR}/run.${pid}"
+			;;
+		*)
+			timeout ${t} "${@}" 2>"${TMP_DIR}/run.${pid}"
+			;;
+		esac
 		ret=$?
 	else
 		"${@}" 2>"${TMP_DIR}/run.${pid}"