diff --git a/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py b/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py
index 77e411424a..d4c7c6c086 100644
--- a/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py
+++ b/lms/lib/comment_client/utils.py
@@ -24,9 +24,10 @@ def perform_request(method, url, data_or_params=None, *args, **kwargs):
         data_or_params = {}
     data_or_params['api_key'] = settings.API_KEY
     if method in ['post', 'put', 'patch']:
-        response = requests.request(method, url, data=data_or_params)
+        response = requests.request(method, url, data=data_or_params, timeout=5)
     else:
-        response = requests.request(method, url, params=data_or_params)
+        response = requests.request(method, url, params=data_or_params,
+                timeout=5)
     if 200 < response.status_code < 500:
         raise CommentClientError(response.text)
     elif response.status_code == 500: