diff --git a/src/world.py b/src/world.py
index 2347bf2f4..f2207c5d7 100644
--- a/src/world.py
+++ b/src/world.py
@@ -43,12 +43,15 @@ import sre
 import time
 import types
 import atexit
+import socket
 import threading
 
 import log
 import conf
 import ircutils
 
+socket.setdefaulttimeout(10)
+
 startedAt = time.time() # Just in case it doesn't get set later.
 
 mainThread = threading.currentThread()