diff --git a/tests/testutil.cpp b/tests/testutil.cpp
index f59c0d5a..c63cfabf 100644
--- a/tests/testutil.cpp
+++ b/tests/testutil.cpp
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ void close_zero_linger (void *socket_)
     TEST_ASSERT_SUCCESS_ERRNO (zmq_close (socket_));
 }
 
-void setup_test_environment ()
+void setup_test_environment (int timeout_seconds_)
 {
 #if defined _WIN32
 #if defined _MSC_VER
@@ -228,10 +228,8 @@ void setup_test_environment ()
     // abort test after 121 seconds
     alarm (121);
 #else
-#if !defined ZMQ_DISABLE_TEST_TIMEOUT
-    // abort test after 60 seconds
-    alarm (60);
-#endif
+    // abort test after timeout_seconds_ seconds
+    alarm (timeout_seconds_);
 #endif
 #endif
 #if defined __MVS__
diff --git a/tests/testutil.hpp b/tests/testutil.hpp
index c60923eb..6661f33b 100644
--- a/tests/testutil.hpp
+++ b/tests/testutil.hpp
@@ -144,7 +144,11 @@ void s_recv_seq (void *socket_, ...);
 //  Sets a zero linger period on a socket and closes it.
 void close_zero_linger (void *socket_);
 
-void setup_test_environment (void);
+//  Setups the test environment. Must be called at the beginning of each test
+//  executable. On POSIX systems, it sets an alarm to the specified number of
+//  seconds, after which the test will be killed. Set to 0 to disable this
+//  timeout.
+void setup_test_environment (int timeout_seconds_ = 60);
 
 //  Provide portable millisecond sleep
 //  http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/unices/60161/