diff --git a/kernel/hung_task.c b/kernel/hung_task.c
index 53ead174da2f..ea640120ab86 100644
--- a/kernel/hung_task.c
+++ b/kernel/hung_task.c
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ unsigned long __read_mostly sysctl_hung_task_check_count = PID_MAX_LIMIT;
 /*
  * Zero means infinite timeout - no checking done:
  */
-unsigned long __read_mostly sysctl_hung_task_timeout_secs = 120;
+unsigned long __read_mostly sysctl_hung_task_timeout_secs = CONFIG_DEFAULT_HUNG_TASK_TIMEOUT;
 
 unsigned long __read_mostly sysctl_hung_task_warnings = 10;
 
diff --git a/lib/Kconfig.debug b/lib/Kconfig.debug
index c768bcdda1b7..debbb0580bf0 100644
--- a/lib/Kconfig.debug
+++ b/lib/Kconfig.debug
@@ -238,6 +238,21 @@ config DETECT_HUNG_TASK
 	  enabled then all held locks will also be reported. This
 	  feature has negligible overhead.
 
+config DEFAULT_HUNG_TASK_TIMEOUT
+	int "Default timeout for hung task detection (in seconds)"
+	depends on DETECT_HUNG_TASK
+	default 120
+	help
+	  This option controls the default timeout (in seconds) used
+	  to determine when a task has become non-responsive and should
+	  be considered hung.
+
+	  It can be adjusted at runtime via the kernel.hung_task_timeout
+	  sysctl or by writing a value to /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout.
+
+	  A timeout of 0 disables the check.  The default is two minutes.
+	  Keeping the default should be fine in most cases.
+
 config BOOTPARAM_HUNG_TASK_PANIC
 	bool "Panic (Reboot) On Hung Tasks"
 	depends on DETECT_HUNG_TASK