diff --git a/util/iocommand.go b/util/iocommand.go
index 1113f74..fe5f9a3 100644
--- a/util/iocommand.go
+++ b/util/iocommand.go
@@ -4,15 +4,18 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/zrepl/zrepl/util/envconst"
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"syscall"
+	"time"
 )
 
 // An IOCommand exposes a forked process's std(in|out|err) through the io.ReadWriteCloser interface.
 type IOCommand struct {
 	Cmd        *exec.Cmd
+	kill 	   context.CancelFunc
 	Stdin      io.WriteCloser
 	Stdout     io.ReadCloser
 	StderrBuf  *bytes.Buffer
@@ -52,6 +55,7 @@ func NewIOCommand(ctx context.Context, command string, args []string, stderrBufS
 
 	c = &IOCommand{}
 
+	ctx, c.kill = context.WithCancel(ctx)
 	c.Cmd = exec.CommandContext(ctx, command, args...)
 
 	if c.Stdout, err = c.Cmd.StdoutPipe(); err != nil {
@@ -81,14 +85,24 @@ func (c *IOCommand) Start() (err error) {
 func (c *IOCommand) Read(buf []byte) (n int, err error) {
 	n, err = c.Stdout.Read(buf)
 	if err == io.EOF {
-		if waitErr := c.doWait(); waitErr != nil {
+		if waitErr := c.doWait(context.Background()); waitErr != nil {
 			err = waitErr
 		}
 	}
 	return
 }
 
-func (c *IOCommand) doWait() (err error) {
+func (c *IOCommand) doWait(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
+	go func() {
+		dl, ok := ctx.Deadline()
+		if !ok {
+			return
+		}
+		time.Sleep(dl.Sub(time.Now()))
+		c.kill()
+		c.Stdout.Close()
+		c.Stdin.Close()
+	}()
 	waitErr := c.Cmd.Wait()
 	var wasUs bool = false
 	var waitStatus syscall.WaitStatus
@@ -133,10 +147,9 @@ func (c *IOCommand) Close() (err error) {
 	if c.Cmd.ProcessState == nil {
 		// racy...
 		err = syscall.Kill(c.Cmd.Process.Pid, syscall.SIGTERM)
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-		return c.doWait()
+		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), envconst.Duration("IOCOMMAND_TIMEOUT", 10*time.Second))
+		defer cancel()
+		return c.doWait(ctx)
 	} else {
 		return c.ExitResult.Error
 	}