diff --git a/fission/function.go b/fission/function.go
index cfe9ef20..d39428b7 100644
--- a/fission/function.go
+++ b/fission/function.go
@@ -790,9 +790,16 @@ func fnTest(c *cli.Context) error {
 		functionUrl.RawQuery = query.Encode()
 	}
 
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	if deadline := c.Duration("timeout"); deadline > 0 {
+		var closeCtx func()
+		ctx, closeCtx = context.WithTimeout(ctx, deadline)
+		defer closeCtx()
+	}
+
 	headers := c.StringSlice("header")
 
-	resp := httpRequest(c.String("method"), functionUrl.String(), c.String("body"), headers)
+	resp := doHTTPRequest(ctx, c.String("method"), functionUrl.String(), c.String("body"), headers)
 	if resp.StatusCode < 400 {
 		body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body)
 		util.CheckErr(err, "Function test")
@@ -813,9 +820,9 @@ func fnTest(c *cli.Context) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func httpRequest(method, url, body string, headers []string) *http.Response {
+func doHTTPRequest(ctx context.Context, method, url, body string, headers []string) *http.Response {
 	if method == "" {
-		method = "GET"
+		method = http.MethodGet
 	}
 
 	if method != http.MethodGet &&
@@ -836,9 +843,7 @@ func httpRequest(method, url, body string, headers []string) *http.Response {
 		}
 		req.Header.Set(headerKeyValue[0], headerKeyValue[1])
 	}
-
-	client := &http.Client{}
-	resp, err := client.Do(req)
+	resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req.WithContext(ctx))
 	util.CheckErr(err, "execute HTTP request")
 
 	return resp
diff --git a/fission/main.go b/fission/main.go
index d3ee8439..34689b59 100644
--- a/fission/main.go
+++ b/fission/main.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli"
@@ -118,6 +119,7 @@ func newCliApp() *cli.App {
 	fnLogCountFlag := cli.StringFlag{Name: "recordcount", Usage: "the n most recent log records"}
 	fnForceFlag := cli.BoolFlag{Name: "force", Usage: "Force update a package even if it is used by one or more functions"}
 	fnExecutorTypeFlag := cli.StringFlag{Name: "executortype", Value: fission.ExecutorTypePoolmgr, Usage: "Executor type for execution; one of 'poolmgr', 'newdeploy' defaults to 'poolmgr'"}
+	fnTimeoutFlag := cli.DurationFlag{Name: "timeout, t", Value: 30 * time.Second, Usage: "The length of time to wait for the response. If set to zero or negative number, no timeout is set."}
 
 	fnSubcommands := []cli.Command{
 		{Name: "create", Usage: "Create new function (and optionally, an HTTP route to it)", Flags: []cli.Flag{fnNameFlag, fnNamespaceFlag, fnEnvNameFlag, envNamespaceFlag, specSaveFlag, fnCodeFlag, fnSrcArchiveFlag, fnDeployArchiveFlag, fnEntryPointFlag, fnBuildCmdFlag, fnPkgNameFlag, htUrlFlag, htMethodFlag, minCpu, maxCpu, minMem, maxMem, minScale, maxScale, fnExecutorTypeFlag, targetcpu, fnCfgMapFlag, fnSecretFlag}, Action: fnCreate},
@@ -129,7 +131,9 @@ func newCliApp() *cli.App {
 		// so, in the future, if we end up using kubeconfig in fission cli and enforcing rolebindings to be created for users by admins etc, we can add this option at the time.
 		{Name: "list", Usage: "List all functions in a namespace if specified, else, list functions across all namespaces", Flags: []cli.Flag{fnNamespaceFlag}, Action: fnList},
 		{Name: "logs", Usage: "Display function logs", Flags: []cli.Flag{fnNameFlag, fnNamespaceFlag, fnPodFlag, fnFollowFlag, fnDetailFlag, fnLogDBTypeFlag, fnLogCountFlag}, Action: fnLogs},
-		{Name: "test", Usage: "Test a function", Flags: []cli.Flag{fnNameFlag, fnNamespaceFlag, fnEnvNameFlag, fnCodeFlag, fnSrcArchiveFlag, htMethodFlag, fnBodyFlag, fnHeaderFlag, fnQueryFlag}, Action: fnTest},
+		{Name: "test", Usage: "Test a function", Flags: []cli.Flag{fnNameFlag, fnNamespaceFlag, fnEnvNameFlag,
+			fnCodeFlag, fnSrcArchiveFlag, htMethodFlag, fnBodyFlag, fnHeaderFlag, fnQueryFlag, fnTimeoutFlag},
+			Action: fnTest},
 	}
 
 	// httptriggers