diff --git a/src/flt_spoe.c b/src/flt_spoe.c
index 12e589e..b3f2ef3 100644
--- a/src/flt_spoe.c
+++ b/src/flt_spoe.c
@@ -190,9 +190,10 @@
 		char         *name;           /* Backend name used during conf parsing */
 	} b;
 	struct {
-		unsigned int  hello;          /* Max time to receive AGENT-HELLO frame */
-		unsigned int  idle;           /* Max Idle timeout */
-		unsigned int  ack;            /* Max time to acknowledge a NOTIFY frame */
+		unsigned int  hello;          /* Max time to receive AGENT-HELLO frame (in SPOE applet) */
+		unsigned int  idle;           /* Max Idle timeout  (in SPOE applet) */
+		unsigned int  ack;            /* Max time to acknowledge a NOTIFY frame  (in SPOE applet)*/
+		unsigned int  processing;     /* Max time to process an event (in the main stream) */
 	} timeout;
 
 	char                 *var_pfx;        /* Prefix used for vars set by the agent */
@@ -232,7 +233,7 @@
 
 	unsigned int        stream_id;    /* stream_id and frame_id are used */
 	unsigned int        frame_id;     /* to map NOTIFY and ACK frames */
-
+	unsigned int        process_exp;  /* expiration date to process an event */
 };
 
 /* Set if the handle on SIGUSR1 is registered */
@@ -1636,6 +1637,9 @@
 {
 	struct spoe_context *ctx;
 
+	if  (!appctx || appctx->st0 > SPOE_APPCTX_ST_PROCESSING)
+		return;
+
 	if (LIST_ISEMPTY(&agent->applet_wq))
 		LIST_ADD(&agent->cache, &APPCTX_SPOE(appctx).list);
 	else {
@@ -1787,6 +1791,9 @@
 	/* Reset the flag to allow next processing */
 	ctx->flags &= ~SPOE_CTX_FL_PROCESS;
 
+	/* Reset processing timer */
+	ctx->process_exp = TICK_ETERNITY;
+
 	/* Release the buffer if needed */
 	if (ctx->buffer != &buf_empty) {
 		b_free(&ctx->buffer);
@@ -2084,13 +2091,14 @@
 process_spoe_event(struct stream *s, struct spoe_context *ctx,
 		   enum spoe_event ev)
 {
-	int dir, ret = 1;
+	struct spoe_config *conf = FLT_CONF(ctx->filter);
+	struct spoe_agent  *agent = conf->agent;
+	int                 dir, ret = 1;
 
 	SPOE_PRINTF(stderr, "%d.%06d [SPOE/%-15s] %s: stream=%p"
 		    " - ctx-state=%s - event=%s\n",
 		    (int)now.tv_sec, (int)now.tv_usec,
-		    ((struct spoe_config *)FLT_CONF(ctx->filter))->agent->id,
-		    __FUNCTION__, s, spoe_ctx_state_str[ctx->state],
+		    agent->id, __FUNCTION__, s, spoe_ctx_state_str[ctx->state],
 		    spoe_event_str[ev]);
 
 	dir = ((ev < SPOE_EV_ON_SERVER_SESS) ? SMP_OPT_DIR_REQ : SMP_OPT_DIR_RES);
@@ -2100,8 +2108,25 @@
 
 	if (ctx->state == SPOE_CTX_ST_ERROR)
 		goto error;
+
+	if (tick_is_expired(ctx->process_exp, now_ms) && ctx->state != SPOE_CTX_ST_DONE) {
+		SPOE_PRINTF(stderr, "%d.%06d [SPOE/%-15s] %s: stream=%p"
+			    " - failed to process event '%s': timeout\n",
+			    (int)now.tv_sec, (int)now.tv_usec,
+			    agent->id, __FUNCTION__, s, spoe_event_str[ev]);
+		send_log(ctx->strm->be, LOG_WARNING,
+			 "failed to process event '%s': timeout.\n",
+			 spoe_event_str[ev]);
+		goto error;
+	}
 
 	if (ctx->state == SPOE_CTX_ST_READY) {
+		if (!tick_isset(ctx->process_exp)) {
+			ctx->process_exp = tick_add_ifset(now_ms, agent->timeout.processing);
+			s->task->expire  = tick_first((tick_is_expired(s->task->expire, now_ms) ? 0 : s->task->expire),
+						      ctx->process_exp);
+		}
+
 		ret = acquire_spoe_appctx(ctx, dir);
 		if (ret <= 0) {
 			if (!ret)
@@ -2182,8 +2207,9 @@
 	LIST_INIT(&ctx->buffer_wait);
 	LIST_INIT(&ctx->applet_wait);
 
-	ctx->stream_id  = 0;
-	ctx->frame_id   = 1;
+	ctx->stream_id   = 0;
+	ctx->frame_id    = 1;
+	ctx->process_exp = TICK_ETERNITY;
 
 	return ctx;
 }
@@ -2399,6 +2425,19 @@
 	}
 }
 
+
+/*
+ * Called when the stream is woken up because of expired timer.
+ */
+static void
+spoe_check_timeouts(struct stream *s, struct filter *filter)
+{
+	struct spoe_context *ctx = filter->ctx;
+
+	if (tick_is_expired(ctx->process_exp, now_ms))
+		s->task->state |= TASK_WOKEN_MSG;
+}
+
 /* Called when we are ready to filter data on a channel */
 static int
 spoe_start_analyze(struct stream *s, struct filter *filter, struct channel *chn)
@@ -2528,8 +2567,9 @@
 	.check  = spoe_check,
 
 	/* Handle start/stop of SPOE */
-	.attach = spoe_start,
-	.detach = spoe_stop,
+	.attach         = spoe_start,
+	.detach         = spoe_stop,
+	.check_timeouts = spoe_check_timeouts,
 
 	/* Handle channels activity */
 	.channel_start_analyze = spoe_start_analyze,
@@ -2589,6 +2629,7 @@
 		curagent->timeout.hello   = TICK_ETERNITY;
 		curagent->timeout.ack     = TICK_ETERNITY;
 		curagent->timeout.idle    = TICK_ETERNITY;
+		curagent->timeout.processing = TICK_ETERNITY;
 		curagent->var_pfx         = NULL;
 		curagent->new_applets     = 0;
 
@@ -2654,8 +2695,10 @@
 			tv = &curagent->timeout.idle;
 		else if (!strcmp(args[1], "ack"))
 			tv = &curagent->timeout.ack;
+		else if (!strcmp(args[1], "processing"))
+			tv = &curagent->timeout.processing;
 		else {
-			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : 'timeout' supports 'connect', 'idle' and 'ack' (got %s).\n",
+			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : 'timeout' supports 'connect', 'idle', 'ack' or 'processing' (got %s).\n",
 			      file, linenum, args[1]);
 			err_code |= ERR_ALERT | ERR_FATAL;
 			goto out;
@@ -2956,13 +2999,17 @@
 			  curagent->id, curagent->conf.file, curagent->conf.line);
 		goto error;
 	}
-	if (curagent->timeout.hello == TICK_ETERNITY ||
-	    curagent->timeout.idle  == TICK_ETERNITY ||
-	    curagent->timeout.ack   == TICK_ETERNITY) {
+	if (curagent->timeout.hello      == TICK_ETERNITY ||
+	    curagent->timeout.idle       == TICK_ETERNITY ||
+	    curagent->timeout.ack        == TICK_ETERNITY ||
+	    curagent->timeout.processing == TICK_ETERNITY) {
+		if (curagent->timeout.ack == TICK_ETERNITY)
+			curagent->timeout.ack = curagent->timeout.idle;
+
 		Warning("Proxy '%s': missing timeouts for SPOE agent '%s' declare at %s:%d.\n"
 			"   | While not properly invalid, you will certainly encounter various problems\n"
 			"   | with such a configuration. To fix this, please ensure that all following\n"
-			"   | timeouts are set to a non-zero value: 'hello', 'idle', 'ack'.\n",
+			"   | timeouts are set to a non-zero value: 'hello', 'idle', 'ack', 'processing'.\n",
 			px->id, curagent->id, curagent->conf.file, curagent->conf.line);
 	}
 	if (curagent->var_pfx == NULL) {