diff --git a/docs/formatdomain.html.in b/docs/formatdomain.html.in
index 5f6ad5d0b907846cd2bf31176127bd38de7d26dd..9b8802dfba6018d9c306b7b1891b934df516f8c0 100644
--- a/docs/formatdomain.html.in
+++ b/docs/formatdomain.html.in
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@
     <loader>/usr/lib/xen/boot/hvmloader</loader>
     <boot dev='hd'/>
     <boot dev='cdrom'/>
-    <bootmenu enable='yes'/>
+    <bootmenu enable='yes' timeout='3000'/>
     <smbios mode='sysinfo'/>
     <bios useserial='yes' rebootTimeout='0'/>
   </os>
@@ -158,6 +158,11 @@
       startup. The <code>enable</code> attribute can be either "yes" or "no".
       If not specified, the hypervisor default is used. <span class="since">
       Since 0.8.3</span>
+      Additional attribute <code>timeout</code> takes the number of milliseconds
+      the boot menu should wait until it times out.  Allowed values are numbers
+      in range [0, 65535] inclusive and it is valid if and only if the previous
+      <code>enable</code> is set to "yes".
+      <span class="since"> Since 1.2.8</span>
       </dd>
       <dt><code>smbios</code></dt>
       <dd>How to populate SMBIOS information visible in the guest.
diff --git a/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng b/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
index 033f2f65026cfb57a73d1ce7631470ab033bbd2d..9a89dd80fb2278d266ca9bef1eb3e76531a2a71f 100644
--- a/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
+++ b/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
@@ -259,6 +259,11 @@
                 <value>no</value>
               </choice>
             </attribute>
+            <optional>
+              <attribute name="timeout">
+                <ref name="unsignedShort"/>
+              </attribute>
+            </optional>
           </element>
         </optional>
         <optional>
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 955702001e49f47a7e7f6f4704a18bdd06105c6a..6e4d602fb4b8b9d9de59c105ca533bb59a01d373 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -11188,6 +11188,19 @@ virDomainDefParseBootXML(xmlXPathContextPtr ctxt,
         VIR_FREE(tmp);
     }
 
+    tmp = virXPathString("string(./os/bootmenu[1]/@timeout)", ctxt);
+    if (tmp && def->os.bootmenu == VIR_TRISTATE_BOOL_YES) {
+        if (virStrToLong_uip(tmp, NULL, 0, &def->os.bm_timeout) < 0 ||
+            def->os.bm_timeout > 65535) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                           _("invalid value for boot menu timeout, "
+                             "must be in range [0,65535]"));
+            goto cleanup;
+        }
+        def->os.bm_timeout_set = true;
+    }
+    VIR_FREE(tmp);
+
     tmp = virXPathString("string(./os/bios[1]/@useserial)", ctxt);
     if (tmp) {
         if (STREQ(tmp, "yes")) {
@@ -17960,9 +17973,13 @@ virDomainDefFormatInternal(virDomainDefPtr def,
             virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<boot dev='%s'/>\n", boottype);
         }
 
-        if (def->os.bootmenu)
-            virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<bootmenu enable='%s'/>\n",
+        if (def->os.bootmenu) {
+            virBufferAsprintf(buf, "<bootmenu enable='%s'",
                               virTristateBoolTypeToString(def->os.bootmenu));
+            if (def->os.bm_timeout_set)
+                virBufferAsprintf(buf, " timeout='%u'", def->os.bm_timeout);
+            virBufferAddLit(buf, "/>\n");
+        }
 
         if (def->os.bios.useserial || def->os.bios.rt_set) {
             virBufferAddLit(buf, "<bios");
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index f2df4eb80f0d44eb8ba771534e99ce6a7763e9c3..36ccf106e07a116571f6a6c8dc4894d90bfe7ac5 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -1630,6 +1630,8 @@ struct _virDomainOSDef {
     size_t nBootDevs;
     int bootDevs[VIR_DOMAIN_BOOT_LAST];
     int bootmenu; /* enum virTristateBool */
+    unsigned int bm_timeout;
+    bool bm_timeout_set;
     char *init;
     char **initargv;
     char *kernel;
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-boot-menu-disable-with-timeout.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-boot-menu-disable-with-timeout.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0f9bd0a6283ea10373beec675b76914b1b81f519
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-boot-menu-disable-with-timeout.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219100</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>219100</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='i686' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='cdrom'/>
+    <bootmenu enable='no' timeout='3000'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='utc'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu</emulator>
+    <disk type='block' device='cdrom'>
+      <source dev='/dev/cdrom'/>
+      <target dev='hdc' bus='ide'/>
+      <readonly/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='1' target='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='usb' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>
+    <memballoon model='virtio'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-boot-menu-enable-with-timeout-invalid.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-boot-menu-enable-with-timeout-invalid.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6c1f2d795fce672adb1a37098e5c8fdf85f33711
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-boot-menu-enable-with-timeout-invalid.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219100</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>219100</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='i686' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='cdrom'/>
+    <bootmenu enable='yes' timeout='65536'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='utc'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu</emulator>
+    <disk type='block' device='cdrom'>
+      <source dev='/dev/cdrom'/>
+      <target dev='hdc' bus='ide'/>
+      <readonly/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='1' target='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='usb' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>
+    <memballoon model='virtio'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-boot-menu-enable-with-timeout.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-boot-menu-enable-with-timeout.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5565a5e0fe4dbe46d1bf09b93d76e09a1b56bffd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-boot-menu-enable-with-timeout.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219100</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>219100</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='i686' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='cdrom'/>
+    <bootmenu enable='yes' timeout='3000'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='utc'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu</emulator>
+    <disk type='block' device='cdrom'>
+      <source dev='/dev/cdrom'/>
+      <target dev='hdc' bus='ide'/>
+      <readonly/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='1' target='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='usb' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>
+    <memballoon model='virtio'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index b289d0e8436c941ac3668bfa9400b3ff2f73905a..6255b51ab9ee3a2411fea042b5499737ed7a0c0f 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -607,6 +607,7 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("boot-menu-enable",
             QEMU_CAPS_BOOT_MENU, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE, QEMU_CAPS_DRIVE,
             QEMU_CAPS_BOOTINDEX);
+    DO_TEST_PARSE_ERROR("boot-menu-enable-with-timeout-invalid", NONE);
     DO_TEST("boot-menu-disable", QEMU_CAPS_BOOT_MENU);
     DO_TEST("boot-menu-disable-drive",
             QEMU_CAPS_BOOT_MENU, QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE, QEMU_CAPS_DRIVE);
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2xmloutdata/qemuxml2xmlout-boot-menu-disable-with-timeout.xml b/tests/qemuxml2xmloutdata/qemuxml2xmlout-boot-menu-disable-with-timeout.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..62f562d16231b70779a4014ac567866081846e3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2xmloutdata/qemuxml2xmlout-boot-menu-disable-with-timeout.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219100</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>219100</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='i686' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='cdrom'/>
+    <bootmenu enable='no'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='utc'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu</emulator>
+    <disk type='block' device='cdrom'>
+      <source dev='/dev/cdrom'/>
+      <target dev='hdc' bus='ide'/>
+      <readonly/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='1' target='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='usb' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>
+    <memballoon model='virtio'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
index 594132324492335076cf2d678683b7aae04959ac..79cf59fc2be4827eb40af0213acc362ab920329c 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
@@ -171,7 +171,9 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("boot-network");
     DO_TEST("boot-floppy");
     DO_TEST("boot-multi");
+    DO_TEST("boot-menu-enable-with-timeout");
     DO_TEST("boot-menu-disable");
+    DO_TEST_DIFFERENT("boot-menu-disable-with-timeout");
     DO_TEST("boot-order");
     DO_TEST("bootloader");