diff --git a/cmdutils.c b/cmdutils.c
index 600dcaf51f..3034e2d44a 100644
--- a/cmdutils.c
+++ b/cmdutils.c
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@
 #if CONFIG_NETWORK
 #include "libavformat/network.h"
 #endif
+#if HAVE_SYS_RESOURCE_H
+#include <sys/resource.h>
+#endif
 
 #undef exit
 
@@ -257,6 +260,19 @@ int opt_loglevel(const char *opt, const char *arg)
     return 0;
 }
 
+int opt_timelimit(const char *opt, const char *arg)
+{
+#if HAVE_SYS_RESOURCE_H
+    int lim = parse_number_or_die(opt, arg, OPT_INT64, 0, INT_MAX);
+    struct rlimit rl = { lim, lim + 1 };
+    if (setrlimit(RLIMIT_CPU, &rl))
+        perror("setrlimit");
+#else
+    fprintf(stderr, "Warning: -%s not implemented on this OS\n", opt);
+#endif
+    return 0;
+}
+
 void set_context_opts(void *ctx, void *opts_ctx, int flags)
 {
     int i;
diff --git a/cmdutils.h b/cmdutils.h
index d2d722b085..9190a81fd9 100644
--- a/cmdutils.h
+++ b/cmdutils.h
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ int opt_default(const char *opt, const char *arg);
  */
 int opt_loglevel(const char *opt, const char *arg);
 
+/**
+ * Limit the execution time.
+ */
+int opt_timelimit(const char *opt, const char *arg);
+
 /**
  * Parses a string and returns its corresponding value as a double.
  * Exits from the application if the string cannot be correctly
diff --git a/ffmpeg.c b/ffmpeg.c
index 02786070e4..4b956ba71d 100644
--- a/ffmpeg.c
+++ b/ffmpeg.c
@@ -353,6 +353,10 @@ static void term_init(void)
 
     signal(SIGINT , sigterm_handler); /* Interrupt (ANSI).  */
     signal(SIGTERM, sigterm_handler); /* Termination (ANSI).  */
+#ifdef SIGXCPU
+    signal(SIGXCPU, sigterm_handler);
+#endif
+
     /*
     register a function to be called at normal program termination
     */
@@ -3863,6 +3867,7 @@ static const OptionDef options[] = {
     { "dframes", OPT_INT | HAS_ARG, {(void*)&max_frames[CODEC_TYPE_DATA]}, "set the number of data frames to record", "number" },
     { "benchmark", OPT_BOOL | OPT_EXPERT, {(void*)&do_benchmark},
       "add timings for benchmarking" },
+    { "timelimit", OPT_FUNC2 | HAS_ARG, {(void*)opt_timelimit}, "set max runtime in seconds", "limit" },
     { "dump", OPT_BOOL | OPT_EXPERT, {(void*)&do_pkt_dump},
       "dump each input packet" },
     { "hex", OPT_BOOL | OPT_EXPERT, {(void*)&do_hex_dump},