diff --git a/common/cmd_nvedit.c b/common/cmd_nvedit.c
index 63afc82fe2078b56809cbdc8156044d95f7aefc9..20080dc0011c4035804ab4c93d4360490ded11ca 100644
--- a/common/cmd_nvedit.c
+++ b/common/cmd_nvedit.c
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ int do_env_edit(cmd_tbl_t *cmdtp, int flag, int argc, char * const argv[])
 	else
 		buffer[0] = '\0';
 
-	readline_into_buffer("edit: ", buffer);
+	readline_into_buffer("edit: ", buffer, 0);
 
 	return setenv(argv[1], buffer);
 }
diff --git a/common/main.c b/common/main.c
index e96c95a038c29be5f7aa5dfa57fa6c9209710e7b..248744ba74d3449518e8ecf2a4197a00a8a56f51 100644
--- a/common/main.c
+++ b/common/main.c
@@ -685,7 +685,8 @@ static void cread_add_str(char *str, int strsize, int insert, unsigned long *num
 	}
 }
 
-static int cread_line(const char *const prompt, char *buf, unsigned int *len)
+static int cread_line(const char *const prompt, char *buf, unsigned int *len,
+		int timeout)
 {
 	unsigned long num = 0;
 	unsigned long eol_num = 0;
@@ -695,6 +696,7 @@ static int cread_line(const char *const prompt, char *buf, unsigned int *len)
 	int esc_len = 0;
 	char esc_save[8];
 	int init_len = strlen(buf);
+	int first = 1;
 
 	if (init_len)
 		cread_add_str(buf, init_len, 1, &num, &eol_num, buf, *len);
@@ -707,6 +709,16 @@ static int cread_line(const char *const prompt, char *buf, unsigned int *len)
 			WATCHDOG_RESET();
 		}
 #endif
+		if (first && timeout) {
+			uint64_t etime = endtick(timeout);
+
+			while (!tstc()) {	/* while no incoming data */
+				if (get_ticks() >= etime)
+					return -2;	/* timed out */
+				WATCHDOG_RESET();
+			}
+			first = 0;
+		}
 
 		ichar = getcmd_getch();
 
@@ -922,11 +934,11 @@ int readline (const char *const prompt)
 	 */
 	console_buffer[0] = '\0';
 
-	return readline_into_buffer(prompt, console_buffer);
+	return readline_into_buffer(prompt, console_buffer, 0);
 }
 
 
-int readline_into_buffer (const char *const prompt, char * buffer)
+int readline_into_buffer(const char *const prompt, char *buffer, int timeout)
 {
 	char *p = buffer;
 #ifdef CONFIG_CMDLINE_EDITING
@@ -949,7 +961,7 @@ int readline_into_buffer (const char *const prompt, char * buffer)
 		if (prompt)
 			puts (prompt);
 
-		rc = cread_line(prompt, p, &len);
+		rc = cread_line(prompt, p, &len, timeout);
 		return rc < 0 ? rc : len;
 
 	} else {
diff --git a/common/menu.c b/common/menu.c
index 5e0817c454bdd128390114dacf315066cba43140..3b1e0d0820fb15a4168897c2c7ddf2b4ec262722 100644
--- a/common/menu.c
+++ b/common/menu.c
@@ -222,7 +222,8 @@ static inline int menu_interactive_choice(struct menu *m, void **choice)
 
 		menu_display(m);
 
-		readret = readline_into_buffer("Enter choice: ", cbuf);
+		readret = readline_into_buffer("Enter choice: ", cbuf,
+				m->timeout);
 
 		if (readret >= 0) {
 			choice_item = menu_item_by_key(m, cbuf);
diff --git a/include/common.h b/include/common.h
index 3df1defab16f3f690b7d6880b96046e48f46ed95..7a9b3a2381994343795cbdf25a2c37e1ad3dde37 100644
--- a/include/common.h
+++ b/include/common.h
@@ -265,7 +265,8 @@ int	run_command	(const char *cmd, int flag);
 int run_command2(const char *cmd, int flag);
 #endif
 int	readline	(const char *const prompt);
-int	readline_into_buffer	(const char *const prompt, char * buffer);
+int	readline_into_buffer(const char *const prompt, char *buffer,
+			int timeout);
 int	parse_line (char *, char *[]);
 void	init_cmd_timeout(void);
 void	reset_cmd_timeout(void);