diff --git a/utils/feed_fetcher.py b/utils/feed_fetcher.py
index b652e4cdb..876476289 100644
--- a/utils/feed_fetcher.py
+++ b/utils/feed_fetcher.py
@@ -33,6 +33,36 @@ def mtime(ttime):
     """
     return datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(time.mktime(ttime))
     
+import threading
+class TimeoutError(Exception): pass
+def timelimit(timeout):
+    """borrowed from web.py"""
+    def _1(function):
+        def _2(*args, **kw):
+            class Dispatch(threading.Thread):
+                def __init__(self):
+                    threading.Thread.__init__(self)
+                    self.result = None
+                    self.error = None
+                    
+                    self.setDaemon(True)
+                    self.start()
+
+                def run(self):
+                    try:
+                        self.result = function(*args, **kw)
+                    except:
+                        self.error = sys.exc_info()
+
+            c = Dispatch()
+            c.join(timeout)
+            if c.isAlive():
+                raise TimeoutError, 'took too long'
+            if c.error:
+                raise c.error[0], c.error[1]
+            return c.result
+        return _2
+    return _1
     
 class FetchFeed:
     def __init__(self, feed, options):
@@ -40,6 +70,7 @@ class FetchFeed:
         self.options = options
         self.fpf = None
     
+    @timelimit(20)
     def fetch(self):
         """ Downloads and parses a feed.
         """