diff --git a/openflow/ctl/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/openflow/controller/impl/HandshakeTimeoutHandler.java b/openflow/ctl/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/openflow/controller/impl/HandshakeTimeoutHandler.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f20ffb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openflow/ctl/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/openflow/controller/impl/HandshakeTimeoutHandler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/**
+*    Copyright 2011, Big Switch Networks, Inc.
+*    Originally created by David Erickson, Stanford University
+*
+*    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+*    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+*    a copy of the License at
+*
+*         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+*
+*    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+*    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+*    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+*    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+*    under the License.
+**/
+
+package org.onlab.onos.openflow.controller.impl;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import org.jboss.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
+import org.jboss.netty.channel.ChannelStateEvent;
+import org.jboss.netty.channel.Channels;
+import org.jboss.netty.channel.SimpleChannelUpstreamHandler;
+import org.jboss.netty.util.Timeout;
+import org.jboss.netty.util.Timer;
+import org.jboss.netty.util.TimerTask;
+
+/**
+ * Trigger a timeout if a switch fails to complete handshake soon enough.
+ */
+public class HandshakeTimeoutHandler
+    extends SimpleChannelUpstreamHandler {
+    static final HandshakeTimeoutException EXCEPTION =
+            new HandshakeTimeoutException();
+
+    final OFChannelHandler channelHandler;
+    final Timer timer;
+    final long timeoutNanos;
+    volatile Timeout timeout;
+
+    public HandshakeTimeoutHandler(OFChannelHandler channelHandler,
+                                   Timer timer,
+                                   long timeoutSeconds) {
+        super();
+        this.channelHandler = channelHandler;
+        this.timer = timer;
+        this.timeoutNanos = TimeUnit.SECONDS.toNanos(timeoutSeconds);
+
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void channelOpen(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ChannelStateEvent e)
+            throws Exception {
+        if (timeoutNanos > 0) {
+            timeout = timer.newTimeout(new HandshakeTimeoutTask(ctx),
+                                       timeoutNanos, TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS);
+        }
+        ctx.sendUpstream(e);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void channelClosed(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, ChannelStateEvent e)
+            throws Exception {
+        if (timeout != null) {
+            timeout.cancel();
+            timeout = null;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private final class HandshakeTimeoutTask implements TimerTask {
+
+        private final ChannelHandlerContext ctx;
+
+        HandshakeTimeoutTask(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) {
+            this.ctx = ctx;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void run(Timeout t) throws Exception {
+            if (t.isCancelled()) {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            if (!ctx.getChannel().isOpen()) {
+                return;
+            }
+            if (!channelHandler.isHandshakeComplete()) {
+                Channels.fireExceptionCaught(ctx, EXCEPTION);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}