diff --git a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_main.c b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_main.c
index bc8a8a7556da54a39a5ffc78ed588728818aeb16..4bd636524dd1f7bd41b6c69d1610bd29a057fd79 100644
--- a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_main.c
+++ b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_main.c
@@ -1404,6 +1404,9 @@ static void after_state_ch(struct drbd_conf *mdev, union drbd_state os,
 	/* Here we have the actions that are performed after a
 	   state change. This function might sleep */
 
+	if (os.disk <= D_NEGOTIATING && ns.disk > D_NEGOTIATING)
+		mod_timer(&mdev->request_timer, jiffies + HZ);
+
 	nsm.i = -1;
 	if (ns.susp_nod) {
 		if (os.conn < C_CONNECTED && ns.conn >= C_CONNECTED)
@@ -3318,6 +3321,8 @@ static void drbd_delete_device(unsigned int minor)
 	if (!mdev)
 		return;
 
+	del_timer_sync(&mdev->request_timer);
+
 	/* paranoia asserts */
 	if (mdev->open_cnt != 0)
 		dev_err(DEV, "open_cnt = %d in %s:%u", mdev->open_cnt,
diff --git a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_receiver.c b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_receiver.c
index e7ed0aa93a16fb1360cb19de117aefa9fd808cb7..a85bbe1bbc2b0424d81909fa8433c983457c2568 100644
--- a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_receiver.c
+++ b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_receiver.c
@@ -3803,8 +3803,6 @@ static void drbd_disconnect(struct drbd_conf *mdev)
 	atomic_set(&mdev->rs_pending_cnt, 0);
 	wake_up(&mdev->misc_wait);
 
-	del_timer(&mdev->request_timer);
-
 	/* make sure syncer is stopped and w_resume_next_sg queued */
 	del_timer_sync(&mdev->resync_timer);
 	resync_timer_fn((unsigned long)mdev);
diff --git a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_req.c b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_req.c
index 1a8aac4b0c2fa62056ba63e46bd927898c4dbe44..ef145e33a647e496e6613a24ac8776189c57f119 100644
--- a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_req.c
+++ b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_req.c
@@ -1208,13 +1208,19 @@ void request_timer_fn(unsigned long data)
 	struct drbd_conf *mdev = (struct drbd_conf *) data;
 	struct drbd_request *req; /* oldest request */
 	struct list_head *le;
-	unsigned long et = 0; /* effective timeout = ko_count * timeout */
+	unsigned long ent = 0, dt = 0, et, nt; /* effective timeout = ko_count * timeout */
 
 	if (get_net_conf(mdev)) {
-		et = mdev->net_conf->timeout*HZ/10 * mdev->net_conf->ko_count;
+		ent = mdev->net_conf->timeout*HZ/10 * mdev->net_conf->ko_count;
 		put_net_conf(mdev);
 	}
-	if (!et || mdev->state.conn < C_WF_REPORT_PARAMS)
+	if (get_ldev(mdev)) {
+		dt = mdev->ldev->dc.disk_timeout * HZ / 10;
+		put_ldev(mdev);
+	}
+	et = min_not_zero(dt, ent);
+
+	if (!et || (mdev->state.conn < C_WF_REPORT_PARAMS && mdev->state.disk <= D_FAILED))
 		return; /* Recurring timer stopped */
 
 	spin_lock_irq(&mdev->req_lock);
@@ -1227,17 +1233,19 @@ void request_timer_fn(unsigned long data)
 
 	le = le->prev;
 	req = list_entry(le, struct drbd_request, tl_requests);
-	if (time_is_before_eq_jiffies(req->start_time + et)) {
-		if (req->rq_state & RQ_NET_PENDING) {
+	if (ent && req->rq_state & RQ_NET_PENDING) {
+		if (time_is_before_eq_jiffies(req->start_time + ent)) {
 			dev_warn(DEV, "Remote failed to finish a request within ko-count * timeout\n");
-			_drbd_set_state(_NS(mdev, conn, C_TIMEOUT), CS_VERBOSE, NULL);
-		} else {
-			dev_warn(DEV, "Local backing block device frozen?\n");
-			mod_timer(&mdev->request_timer, jiffies + et);
+			_drbd_set_state(_NS(mdev, conn, C_TIMEOUT), CS_VERBOSE | CS_HARD, NULL);
 		}
-	} else {
-		mod_timer(&mdev->request_timer, req->start_time + et);
 	}
-
+	if (dt && req->rq_state & RQ_LOCAL_PENDING) {
+		if (time_is_before_eq_jiffies(req->start_time + dt)) {
+			dev_warn(DEV, "Local backing device failed to meet the disk-timeout\n");
+			__drbd_chk_io_error(mdev, 1);
+		}
+	}
+	nt = (time_is_before_eq_jiffies(req->start_time + et) ? jiffies : req->start_time) + et;
 	spin_unlock_irq(&mdev->req_lock);
+	mod_timer(&mdev->request_timer, nt);
 }
diff --git a/include/linux/drbd_limits.h b/include/linux/drbd_limits.h
index 928c84dfaf42aacb31a2f0a93cc701f04cc8fba3..fb670bf603f7c730469d0c56c22abb7f6274d192 100644
--- a/include/linux/drbd_limits.h
+++ b/include/linux/drbd_limits.h
@@ -48,6 +48,11 @@
 #define DRBD_TIMEOUT_MAX 600
 #define DRBD_TIMEOUT_DEF 60       /* 6 seconds */
 
+ /* If backing disk takes longer than disk_timeout, mark the disk as failed */
+#define DRBD_DISK_TIMEOUT_MIN 0    /* 0 = disabled */
+#define DRBD_DISK_TIMEOUT_MAX 6000 /* 10 Minutes */
+#define DRBD_DISK_TIMEOUT_DEF 0    /* disabled */
+
   /* active connection retries when C_WF_CONNECTION */
 #define DRBD_CONNECT_INT_MIN 1
 #define DRBD_CONNECT_INT_MAX 120
diff --git a/include/linux/drbd_nl.h b/include/linux/drbd_nl.h
index 7203c9ead23385c95aabc31dd9bdb28e60986d52..a8706f08ab367cfb9b8b9ac79b7f62cb94d0a876 100644
--- a/include/linux/drbd_nl.h
+++ b/include/linux/drbd_nl.h
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ NL_PACKET(disk_conf, 3,
 	NL_INTEGER(	56,	T_MAY_IGNORE,	max_bio_bvecs)
 	NL_BIT(		57,	T_MAY_IGNORE,	no_disk_barrier)
 	NL_BIT(		58,	T_MAY_IGNORE,	no_disk_drain)
+	NL_INTEGER(	89,	T_MAY_IGNORE,	disk_timeout)
 )
 
 NL_PACKET(detach, 4,