diff --git a/src/cfgparse.c b/src/cfgparse.c
index 91b9f3c..8bb787e 100644
--- a/src/cfgparse.c
+++ b/src/cfgparse.c
@@ -976,78 +976,26 @@
 			return -1;
 		}
 	}
-	else if (!strcmp(args[0], "contimeout")) {  /* connect timeout */
-		if (!__tv_iseq(&curproxy->contimeout, &defproxy.contimeout)) {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' already specified. Continuing.\n", file, linenum, args[0]);
-			return 0;
-		}
-		else if (warnifnotcap(curproxy, PR_CAP_BE, file, linenum, args[0], NULL))
-			return 0;
+	else if (!strcmp(args[0], "contimeout") || !strcmp(args[0], "clitimeout") ||
+		 !strcmp(args[0], "srvtimeout") || !strcmp(args[0], "timeout")) {
 
-		if (*(args[1]) == 0) {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' expects an integer <time_in_ms> as argument.\n",
-			      file, linenum, args[0]);
-			return -1;
-		}
-		err = parse_time_err(args[1], &val, TIME_UNIT_MS);
-		if (err) {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : unexpected character '%c' in %s.\n",
-			      file, linenum, *err, args[0]);
-			return -1;
-		}
-		if (val > 0)
-			__tv_from_ms(&curproxy->contimeout, val);
-		else
-			tv_eternity(&curproxy->contimeout);
-	}
-	else if (!strcmp(args[0], "clitimeout")) {  /*  client timeout */
-		if (!__tv_iseq(&curproxy->clitimeout, &defproxy.clitimeout)) {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' already specified. Continuing.\n",
-			      file, linenum, args[0]);
-			return 0;
-		}
-		else if (warnifnotcap(curproxy, PR_CAP_FE, file, linenum, args[0], NULL))
-			return 0;
+		/* either we have {con|srv|cli}timeout <value> or we have the
+		 * new form: timeout <type> <value>. The parser needs the word
+		 * preceeding the value.
+		 */
+		const char **start_arg = (const char **)args;
 
-		if (*(args[1]) == 0) {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' expects an integer <time_in_ms> as argument.\n",
-			      file, linenum, args[0]);
-			return -1;
-		}
-		err = parse_time_err(args[1], &val, TIME_UNIT_MS);
-		if (err) {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : unexpected character '%c' in %s.\n",
-			      file, linenum, *err, args[0]);
-			return -1;
-		}
-		if (val > 0)
-			__tv_from_ms(&curproxy->clitimeout, val);
-		else
-			tv_eternity(&curproxy->clitimeout);
-	}
-	else if (!strcmp(args[0], "srvtimeout")) {  /*  server timeout */
-		if (!__tv_iseq(&curproxy->srvtimeout, &defproxy.srvtimeout)) {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' already specified. Continuing.\n", file, linenum, args[0]);
-			return 0;
-		}
-		else if (warnifnotcap(curproxy, PR_CAP_BE, file, linenum, args[0], NULL))
-			return 0;
+		if (strcmp(args[0], "timeout") == 0)
+			start_arg++;
 
-		if (*(args[1]) == 0) {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' expects an integer <time_in_ms> as argument.\n",
-			      file, linenum, args[0]);
-			return -1;
-		}
-		err = parse_time_err(args[1], &val, TIME_UNIT_MS);
-		if (err) {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : unexpected character '%c' in %s.\n",
-			      file, linenum, *err, args[0]);
+		snprintf(trash, sizeof(trash), "error near '%s'", args[0]);
+		rc = proxy_parse_timeout(start_arg, curproxy, &defproxy, trash, sizeof(trash));
+		if (rc < 0) {
+			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : %s\n", file, linenum, trash);
 			return -1;
 		}
-		if (val > 0)
-			__tv_from_ms(&curproxy->srvtimeout, val);
-		else
-			tv_eternity(&curproxy->srvtimeout);
+		if (rc > 0)
+			Warning("parsing [%s:%d] : %s\n", file, linenum, trash);
 	}
 	else if (!strcmp(args[0], "retries")) {  /* connection retries */
 		if (warnifnotcap(curproxy, PR_CAP_BE, file, linenum, args[0], NULL))
diff --git a/src/proxy.c b/src/proxy.c
index 06424c6..8263964 100644
--- a/src/proxy.c
+++ b/src/proxy.c
@@ -75,6 +75,89 @@
 		return "unknown";
 }
 
+/* This function parses a "timeout" statement in a proxy section. It returns
+ * -1 if there is any error, 1 for a warning, otherwise zero. If it does not
+ * return zero, it may write an error message into the <err> buffer, for at
+ * most <errlen> bytes, trailing zero included. The trailing '\n' must not
+ * be written. The function must be called with <args> pointing to the first
+ * word after "timeout", with <proxy> pointing to the proxy being parsed, and
+ * <defpx> to the default proxy or NULL. As a special case for compatibility
+ * with older configs, it also accepts "{cli|srv|con}timeout" in args[0].
+ */
+int proxy_parse_timeout(const char **args, struct proxy *proxy,
+			struct proxy *defpx, char *err, int errlen)
+{
+	unsigned timeout;
+	int retval, cap;
+	const char *res, *name;
+	struct timeval *tv = NULL;
+	struct timeval *td = NULL;
+
+	retval = 0;
+	name = args[0];
+	if (!strcmp(args[0], "client") || !strcmp(args[0], "clitimeout")) {
+		name = "client";
+		tv = &proxy->clitimeout;
+		td = &defpx->clitimeout;
+		cap = PR_CAP_FE;
+	} else if (!strcmp(args[0], "tarpit")) {
+		tv = &proxy->timeout.tarpit;
+		td = &defpx->timeout.tarpit;
+		cap = PR_CAP_FE;
+	} else if (!strcmp(args[0], "server") || !strcmp(args[0], "srvtimeout")) {
+		name = "server";
+		tv = &proxy->srvtimeout;
+		td = &defpx->srvtimeout;
+		cap = PR_CAP_BE;
+	} else if (!strcmp(args[0], "connect") || !strcmp(args[0], "contimeout")) {
+		name = "connect";
+		tv = &proxy->contimeout;
+		td = &defpx->contimeout;
+		cap = PR_CAP_BE;
+	} else if (!strcmp(args[0], "appsession")) {
+		tv = &proxy->appsession_timeout;
+		td = &defpx->appsession_timeout;
+		cap = PR_CAP_BE;
+	} else if (!strcmp(args[0], "queue")) {
+		tv = &proxy->timeout.queue;
+		td = &defpx->timeout.queue;
+		cap = PR_CAP_BE;
+	} else {
+		snprintf(err, errlen, "timeout '%s': must be 'client', 'server', 'connect', 'appsession', 'queue', or 'tarpit'",
+			 args[0]);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	if (*args[1] == 0) {
+		snprintf(err, errlen, "%s timeout expects an integer value (in milliseconds)", name);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	res = parse_time_err(args[1], &timeout, TIME_UNIT_MS);
+	if (res) {
+		snprintf(err, errlen, "unexpected character '%c' in %s timeout", *err, name);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	if (!(proxy->cap & cap)) {
+		snprintf(err, errlen, "%s timeout will be ignored because %s '%s' has no %s capability",
+			 name, proxy_type_str(proxy), proxy->id,
+			 (cap & PR_CAP_BE) ? "backend" : "frontend");
+		retval = 1;
+	}
+	else if (defpx && !__tv_iseq(tv, td)) {
+		snprintf(err, errlen, "overwriting %s timeout which was already specified", name);
+		retval = 1;
+	}
+
+	if (timeout)
+		__tv_from_ms(tv, timeout);
+	else
+		tv_eternity(tv);
+
+	return retval;
+}
+
 /*
  * This function finds a proxy with matching name, mode and with satisfying
  * capabilities. It also checks if there are more matching proxies with