diff --git a/src/satellite.cpp b/src/satellite.cpp
index 31f1894..6723eeb 100644
--- a/src/satellite.cpp
+++ b/src/satellite.cpp
@@ -443,6 +443,7 @@ int command_satellite (Config& config, const std::vector <std::string>& args)
   bool debug = false;
   bool exit_on_idle = false;
   int builds_max = 0;
+  int timeout_max = 0;
   std::vector <std::string>::const_iterator i;
   for (i = ++(args.begin ()); i != args.end (); ++i)
   {
@@ -450,12 +451,17 @@ int command_satellite (Config& config, const std::vector <std::string>& args)
     else if (closeEnough ("--keep",         *i, 3)) keep         = true;
     else if (closeEnough ("--debug",        *i, 3)) debug        = true;
     else if (closeEnough ("--exit-on-idle", *i, 3)) exit_on_idle = true;
-    else if (counter (*i, builds_max))             ;
+    else if (closeEnough ("--max-jobs",     *i, 3)) builds_max   = strtol (i->substr(10).c_str (), NULL, 10);
+    else if (closeEnough ("--max-timeouts", *i, 3)) timeout_max  = strtol (i->substr(10).c_str (), NULL, 10);
     else if (flod_applyOverride (config, *i))       ;
     else
       throw std::string ("ERROR: Unrecognized argument '") + *i + "'";
   }
 
+  if (!builds_max && timeout_max) {
+      throw std::string ("ERROR: --max-timeouts is only to be used in conjunction with --max-jobs'");
+  }
+
   // Preserve the verbose and debug settings for this run.
   config.set ("verbose", verbose);
   config.set ("debug", debug);
@@ -480,6 +486,9 @@ int command_satellite (Config& config, const std::vector <std::string>& args)
   // Count the jobs, simply to allow easy differentiation in the log file.
   int job_count = 0;
 
+  // Count the timeouts (Central not responding)
+  int timeout_count = 0;
+
   try
   {
     // Wait before beginning work.
@@ -516,6 +525,8 @@ int command_satellite (Config& config, const std::vector <std::string>& args)
       Msg response;
       if (flod_sendMessage (config, "central.server", work, response, false))
       {
+        // Reset timeout count
+        timeout_count = 0;
         // Make a temporary copy of the configuration, which will be clobbered.
         Config work_config (config);
         work_config.set ("verbose", verbose ? 1 : 0);
@@ -641,6 +652,10 @@ int command_satellite (Config& config, const std::vector <std::string>& args)
       {
         log.write ("WARNING: Central unavailable");
 
+        if (++timeout_count == timeout_max) {
+            log.write ("Automatic exit on timeout.");
+        }
+
         // This delay throttles the work.Request rate when central is
         // unavailable.
         sleep (delay);