diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/library_thing.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/library_thing.py
index 97a8834300..234d077765 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/library_thing.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/library_thing.py
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ from calibre.ebooks.BeautifulSoup import BeautifulSoup
 
 OPENLIBRARY = 'http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/%s-L.jpg?default=false'
 
-def check_for_cover(isbn):
+def check_for_cover(isbn, timeout=5.):
     br = browser()
     br.set_handle_redirect(False)
     try:
-        br.open_novisit(OPENLIBRARY%isbn)
+        br.open_novisit(OPENLIBRARY%isbn, timeout=timeout)
     except Exception, e:
         if callable(getattr(e, 'getcode', None)) and e.getcode() == 302:
             return True