diff --git a/reader.go b/reader.go
index 08f4f5b04..1eea3d1b6 100644
--- a/reader.go
+++ b/reader.go
@@ -400,6 +400,9 @@ type ReaderConfig struct {
 	// Default: 10s
 	MaxWait time.Duration
 
+	// MaxSafetyTimeout
+	MaxSafetyTimeout time.Duration
+
 	// ReadLagInterval sets the frequency at which the reader lag is updated.
 	// Setting this field to a negative value disables lag reporting.
 	ReadLagInterval time.Duration
@@ -1203,22 +1206,23 @@ func (r *Reader) start(offsetsByPartition map[topicPartition]int64) {
 			defer join.Done()
 
 			(&reader{
-				dialer:          r.config.Dialer,
-				logger:          r.config.Logger,
-				errorLogger:     r.config.ErrorLogger,
-				brokers:         r.config.Brokers,
-				topic:           key.topic,
-				partition:       int(key.partition),
-				minBytes:        r.config.MinBytes,
-				maxBytes:        r.config.MaxBytes,
-				maxWait:         r.config.MaxWait,
-				backoffDelayMin: r.config.ReadBackoffMin,
-				backoffDelayMax: r.config.ReadBackoffMax,
-				version:         r.version,
-				msgs:            r.msgs,
-				stats:           r.stats,
-				isolationLevel:  r.config.IsolationLevel,
-				maxAttempts:     r.config.MaxAttempts,
+				dialer:           r.config.Dialer,
+				logger:           r.config.Logger,
+				errorLogger:      r.config.ErrorLogger,
+				brokers:          r.config.Brokers,
+				topic:            key.topic,
+				partition:        int(key.partition),
+				minBytes:         r.config.MinBytes,
+				maxBytes:         r.config.MaxBytes,
+				maxWait:          r.config.MaxWait,
+				maxSafetyTimeout: r.config.MaxSafetyTimeout,
+				backoffDelayMin:  r.config.ReadBackoffMin,
+				backoffDelayMax:  r.config.ReadBackoffMax,
+				version:          r.version,
+				msgs:             r.msgs,
+				stats:            r.stats,
+				isolationLevel:   r.config.IsolationLevel,
+				maxAttempts:      r.config.MaxAttempts,
 
 				// backwards-compatibility flags
 				offsetOutOfRangeError: r.config.OffsetOutOfRangeError,
@@ -1231,22 +1235,23 @@ func (r *Reader) start(offsetsByPartition map[topicPartition]int64) {
 // used as an way to asynchronously fetch messages while the main program reads
 // them using the high level reader API.
 type reader struct {
-	dialer          *Dialer
-	logger          Logger
-	errorLogger     Logger
-	brokers         []string
-	topic           string
-	partition       int
-	minBytes        int
-	maxBytes        int
-	maxWait         time.Duration
-	backoffDelayMin time.Duration
-	backoffDelayMax time.Duration
-	version         int64
-	msgs            chan<- readerMessage
-	stats           *readerStats
-	isolationLevel  IsolationLevel
-	maxAttempts     int
+	dialer           *Dialer
+	logger           Logger
+	errorLogger      Logger
+	brokers          []string
+	topic            string
+	partition        int
+	minBytes         int
+	maxBytes         int
+	maxWait          time.Duration
+	maxSafetyTimeout time.Duration
+	backoffDelayMin  time.Duration
+	backoffDelayMax  time.Duration
+	version          int64
+	msgs             chan<- readerMessage
+	stats            *readerStats
+	isolationLevel   IsolationLevel
+	maxAttempts      int
 
 	offsetOutOfRangeError bool
 }
@@ -1514,7 +1519,15 @@ func (r *reader) read(ctx context.Context, offset int64, conn *Conn) (int64, err
 	var size int64
 	var bytes int64
 
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(r.maxSafetyTimeout)
+	conn.SetReadDeadline(deadline)
+
 	for {
+		if now := time.Now(); deadline.Sub(now) < (r.maxSafetyTimeout / 2) {
+			deadline = now.Add(r.maxSafetyTimeout)
+			conn.SetReadDeadline(deadline)
+		}
+
 		if msg, err = batch.ReadMessage(); err != nil {
 			batch.Close()
 			break