diff --git a/src/util/virnetdevopenvswitch.c b/src/util/virnetdevopenvswitch.c
index 764f478a6a..97b9d52c19 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdevopenvswitch.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetdevopenvswitch.c
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ int virNetDevOpenvswitchAddPort(const char *brname, const char *ifname,
 
     cmd = virCommandNew(OVSVSCTL);
 
-    virCommandAddArgList(cmd, "--", "--may-exist", "add-port",
+    virCommandAddArgList(cmd, "--timeout=5", "--", "--may-exist", "add-port",
                         brname, ifname, NULL);
 
     if (virBufferUse(&buf) != 0)
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ int virNetDevOpenvswitchRemovePort(const char *brname ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED, const ch
     virCommandPtr cmd = NULL;
 
     cmd = virCommandNew(OVSVSCTL);
-    virCommandAddArgList(cmd, "--", "--if-exists", "del-port", ifname, NULL);
+    virCommandAddArgList(cmd, "--timeout=5", "--", "--if-exists", "del-port", ifname, NULL);
 
     if (virCommandRun(cmd, NULL) < 0) {
         virReportSystemError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,