diff --git a/src/ioevent.c b/src/ioevent.c
index 77eab332c932533294af48cbccfddd0b7a4ccac3..7454b7cbcec8d18e9fa4df0cbc38324a4ccdc8b6 100644
--- a/src/ioevent.c
+++ b/src/ioevent.c
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ int kqueue_ev_convert(int16_t event, uint16_t flags)
 #endif
 
 int ioevent_init(IOEventPoller *ioevent, const int size,
-    const int timeout, const int extra_events)
+    const int timeout_ms, const int extra_events)
 {
   int bytes;
 
@@ -40,26 +40,24 @@ int ioevent_init(IOEventPoller *ioevent, const int size,
   ioevent->iterator.count = 0;
 
 #if IOEVENT_USE_EPOLL
-  ioevent->timeout = timeout;
   ioevent->poll_fd = epoll_create(ioevent->size);
   bytes = sizeof(struct epoll_event) * size;
   ioevent->events = (struct epoll_event *)malloc(bytes);
 #elif IOEVENT_USE_KQUEUE
-  ioevent->timeout.tv_sec = timeout / 1000;
-  ioevent->timeout.tv_nsec = 1000000 * (timeout % 1000);
   ioevent->poll_fd = kqueue();
   bytes = sizeof(struct kevent) * size;
   ioevent->events = (struct kevent *)malloc(bytes);
 #elif IOEVENT_USE_PORT
-  ioevent->timeout.tv_sec = timeout / 1000;
-  ioevent->timeout.tv_nsec = 1000000 * (timeout % 1000);
   ioevent->poll_fd = port_create();
   bytes = sizeof(port_event_t) * size;
   ioevent->events = (port_event_t *)malloc(bytes);
 #endif
+
   if (ioevent->events == NULL) {
     return errno != 0 ? errno : ENOMEM;
   }
+  ioevent_set_timeout(ioevent, timeout_ms);
+
   return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/ioevent.h b/src/ioevent.h
index 8aa79b70a9a9e6dacfefbcf9ce43bb61371ee30e..5d4630efed5a71c73eab52ebb44cbbfcfe4446f3 100644
--- a/src/ioevent.h
+++ b/src/ioevent.h
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 int ioevent_init(IOEventPoller *ioevent, const int size,
-    const int timeout, const int extra_events);
+    const int timeout_ms, const int extra_events);
 void ioevent_destroy(IOEventPoller *ioevent);
 
 int ioevent_attach(IOEventPoller *ioevent, const int fd, const int e,
@@ -123,6 +123,22 @@ int ioevent_modify(IOEventPoller *ioevent, const int fd, const int e,
 int ioevent_detach(IOEventPoller *ioevent, const int fd);
 int ioevent_poll(IOEventPoller *ioevent);
 
+static inline void ioevent_set_timeout(IOEventPoller *ioevent, const int timeout_ms)
+{
+#if IOEVENT_USE_EPOLL
+  ioevent->timeout = timeout_ms;
+#else
+  ioevent->timeout.tv_sec = timeout_ms / 1000;
+  ioevent->timeout.tv_nsec = 1000000 * (timeout_ms % 1000);
+#endif
+}
+
+static inline int ioevent_poll_ex(IOEventPoller *ioevent, const int timeout_ms)
+{
+  ioevent_set_timeout(ioevent, timeout_ms);
+  return ioevent_poll(ioevent);
+}
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif