diff --git a/irc/utils/semaphores.go b/irc/utils/semaphores.go
index 8d3d19ff..2a34c378 100644
--- a/irc/utils/semaphores.go
+++ b/irc/utils/semaphores.go
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2018 Shivaram Lingamneni
+// released under the MIT license
 
 package utils
 
 import (
 	"log"
 	"runtime/debug"
+	"time"
 )
 
 // Semaphore is a counting semaphore. Note that a capacity of n requires O(n) storage.
@@ -35,6 +37,25 @@ func (semaphore *Semaphore) TryAcquire() (acquired bool) {
 	}
 }
 
+// AcquireWithTimeout tries to acquire a semaphore, blocking for a maximum
+// of approximately `d` while waiting for it. It returns whether the acquire
+// was successful.
+func (semaphore *Semaphore) AcquireWithTimeout(timeout time.Duration) (acquired bool) {
+	if timeout < 0 {
+		return semaphore.TryAcquire()
+	}
+
+	timer := time.NewTimer(timeout)
+	select {
+	case <-(*semaphore):
+		acquired = true
+	case <-timer.C:
+		acquired = false
+	}
+	timer.Stop()
+	return
+}
+
 // Release releases a semaphore. It never blocks. (This is not a license
 // to program spurious releases.)
 func (semaphore *Semaphore) Release() {
diff --git a/irc/utils/semaphores_test.go b/irc/utils/semaphores_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b047ed56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/irc/utils/semaphores_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2019 Shivaram Lingamneni
+// released under the MIT license
+
+package utils
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestTryAcquire(t *testing.T) {
+	count := 3
+	var sem Semaphore
+	sem.Initialize(count)
+
+	for i := 0; i < count; i++ {
+		assertEqual(sem.TryAcquire(), true, t)
+	}
+	// used up the capacity
+	assertEqual(sem.TryAcquire(), false, t)
+	sem.Release()
+	// got one slot back
+	assertEqual(sem.TryAcquire(), true, t)
+}
+
+func TestAcquireWithTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+	var sem Semaphore
+	sem.Initialize(1)
+
+	assertEqual(sem.TryAcquire(), true, t)
+
+	// cannot acquire the held semaphore
+	assertEqual(sem.AcquireWithTimeout(100*time.Millisecond), false, t)
+
+	sem.Release()
+	// can acquire the released semaphore
+	assertEqual(sem.AcquireWithTimeout(100*time.Millisecond), true, t)
+	sem.Release()
+
+	// XXX this test could fail if the machine is extremely overloaded
+	sem.Acquire()
+	go func() {
+		time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+		sem.Release()
+	}()
+	// we should acquire successfully after approximately 100 msec
+	assertEqual(sem.AcquireWithTimeout(1*time.Second), true, t)
+}