diff --git a/src/auth.c b/src/auth.c
index 4e08c3e9..7122a577 100644
--- a/src/auth.c
+++ b/src/auth.c
@@ -63,23 +63,23 @@
  * again is necessary
  */
 static int ask_userauth(ssh_session session) {
-  int rc = 0;
+    int rc = 0;
 
-  enter_function();
-  do {
-  	rc=ssh_service_request(session,"ssh-userauth");
-  	if(ssh_is_blocking(session)){
-  	  if(rc==SSH_AGAIN)
-  	    ssh_handle_packets(session,-1);
-  	} else {
-  	  /* nonblocking */
-  	  ssh_handle_packets(session,0);
-  	  rc=ssh_service_request(session,"ssh-userauth");
-  	  break;
-  	}
-  } while(rc==SSH_AGAIN);
-  leave_function();
-  return rc;
+    enter_function();
+    do {
+        rc = ssh_service_request(session,"ssh-userauth");
+        if (ssh_is_blocking(session)) {
+            if(rc == SSH_AGAIN)
+                ssh_handle_packets(session, -2);
+        } else {
+            /* nonblocking */
+            ssh_handle_packets(session, 0);
+            rc = ssh_service_request(session, "ssh-userauth");
+            break;
+        }
+    } while (rc == SSH_AGAIN);
+    leave_function();
+    return rc;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/auth1.c b/src/auth1.c
index 06f05497..8b96f8ca 100644
--- a/src/auth1.c
+++ b/src/auth1.c
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ static int wait_auth1_status(ssh_session session) {
   enter_function();
   /* wait for a packet */
   while(session->auth_state == SSH_AUTH_STATE_NONE)
-    if (ssh_handle_packets(session,-1) != SSH_OK)
+    if (ssh_handle_packets(session, -2) != SSH_OK)
       break;
   ssh_log(session,SSH_LOG_PROTOCOL,"Auth state : %d",session->auth_state);
   leave_function();
diff --git a/src/channels.c b/src/channels.c
index ddccb97c..97d02ff0 100644
--- a/src/channels.c
+++ b/src/channels.c
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ static int channel_open(ssh_channel channel, const char *type_c, int window,
   /* Todo: fix this into a correct loop */
   /* wait until channel is opened by server */
   while(channel->state == SSH_CHANNEL_STATE_NOT_OPEN){
-    ssh_handle_packets(session,-1);
+    ssh_handle_packets(session, -2);
   }
   if(channel->state == SSH_CHANNEL_STATE_OPEN)
     err=SSH_OK;
@@ -1451,7 +1451,7 @@ static int channel_request(ssh_channel channel, const char *request,
     return SSH_OK;
   }
   while(channel->request_state == SSH_CHANNEL_REQ_STATE_PENDING){
-    ssh_handle_packets(session,-1);
+    ssh_handle_packets(session, -2);
     if(session->session_state == SSH_SESSION_STATE_ERROR) {
 	channel->request_state = SSH_CHANNEL_REQ_STATE_ERROR;
 	break;
@@ -1799,7 +1799,7 @@ static ssh_channel ssh_channel_accept(ssh_session session, int channeltype,
 
   for (t = timeout_ms; t >= 0; t -= 50)
   {
-    ssh_handle_packets(session,50);
+    ssh_handle_packets(session, 50);
 
     if (session->ssh_message_list) {
       iterator = ssh_list_get_iterator(session->ssh_message_list);
@@ -1956,7 +1956,7 @@ static int global_request(ssh_session session, const char *request,
     return SSH_OK;
   }
   while(session->global_req_state == SSH_CHANNEL_REQ_STATE_PENDING){
-    rc=ssh_handle_packets(session,-1);
+    rc=ssh_handle_packets(session, -2);
     if(rc==SSH_ERROR){
       session->global_req_state = SSH_CHANNEL_REQ_STATE_ERROR;
       break;
@@ -2372,7 +2372,7 @@ int channel_read_buffer(ssh_channel channel, ssh_buffer buffer, uint32_t count,
         leave_function();
         return 0;
       }
-      ssh_handle_packets(channel->session, -1);
+      ssh_handle_packets(channel->session, -2);
     } while (r == 0);
   }
   while(total < count){
@@ -2480,7 +2480,7 @@ int ssh_channel_read(ssh_channel channel, void *dest, uint32_t count, int is_std
       break;
     }
 
-    ssh_handle_packets(session,-1);
+    ssh_handle_packets(session, -2);
   }
 
   len = buffer_get_rest_len(stdbuf);
@@ -2585,7 +2585,7 @@ int ssh_channel_poll(ssh_channel channel, int is_stderr){
   }
 
   if (buffer_get_rest_len(stdbuf) == 0 && channel->remote_eof == 0) {
-    if (ssh_handle_packets(channel->session,0)==SSH_ERROR) {
+    if (ssh_handle_packets(channel->session, 0)==SSH_ERROR) {
       leave_function();
       return SSH_ERROR;
     }
@@ -2640,7 +2640,7 @@ int ssh_channel_get_exit_status(ssh_channel channel) {
 
   while ((channel->remote_eof == 0 || channel->exit_status == -1) && channel->session->alive) {
     /* Parse every incoming packet */
-    if (ssh_handle_packets(channel->session,-1) != SSH_OK) {
+    if (ssh_handle_packets(channel->session, -2) != SSH_OK) {
       return -1;
     }
     /* XXX We should actually wait for a close packet and not a close
@@ -2675,7 +2675,7 @@ static int channel_protocol_select(ssh_channel *rchans, ssh_channel *wchans,
     chan = rchans[i];
 
     while (ssh_channel_is_open(chan) && ssh_socket_data_available(chan->session->socket)) {
-      ssh_handle_packets(chan->session,-1);
+      ssh_handle_packets(chan->session, -2);
     }
 
     if ((chan->stdout_buffer && buffer_get_rest_len(chan->stdout_buffer) > 0) ||
diff --git a/src/kex.c b/src/kex.c
index 592ca092..21f2cad6 100644
--- a/src/kex.c
+++ b/src/kex.c
@@ -826,14 +826,14 @@ int ssh_get_kex1(ssh_session session) {
   ssh_log(session, SSH_LOG_PROTOCOL, "Waiting for a SSH_SMSG_PUBLIC_KEY");
   /* Here the callback is called */
   while(session->session_state==SSH_SESSION_STATE_INITIAL_KEX){
-    ssh_handle_packets(session,-1);
+    ssh_handle_packets(session, -2);
   }
   if(session->session_state==SSH_SESSION_STATE_ERROR)
     goto error;
   ssh_log(session, SSH_LOG_PROTOCOL, "Waiting for a SSH_SMSG_SUCCESS");
   /* Waiting for SSH_SMSG_SUCCESS */
   while(session->session_state==SSH_SESSION_STATE_KEXINIT_RECEIVED){
-    ssh_handle_packets(session,-1);
+    ssh_handle_packets(session, -2);
   }
   if(session->session_state==SSH_SESSION_STATE_ERROR)
       goto error;
diff --git a/src/messages.c b/src/messages.c
index bbd9d1f3..30a0fd77 100644
--- a/src/messages.c
+++ b/src/messages.c
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ ssh_message ssh_message_get(ssh_session session) {
       session->ssh_message_list = ssh_list_new();
   }
   do {
-    if (ssh_handle_packets(session,-1) == SSH_ERROR) {
+    if (ssh_handle_packets(session, -2) == SSH_ERROR) {
       leave_function();
       return NULL;
     }
diff --git a/src/server.c b/src/server.c
index 9877ed86..6ee16e0f 100644
--- a/src/server.c
+++ b/src/server.c
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ int ssh_handle_key_exchange(ssh_session session) {
          * loop until SSH_SESSION_STATE_BANNER_RECEIVED or
          * SSH_SESSION_STATE_ERROR
          */
-        ssh_handle_packets(session,-1);
+        ssh_handle_packets(session, -2);
         ssh_log(session,SSH_LOG_PACKET, "ssh_handle_key_exchange: Actual state : %d",
                 session->session_state);
     }
diff --git a/src/session.c b/src/session.c
index ab12e0db..5aa6cbb0 100644
--- a/src/session.c
+++ b/src/session.c
@@ -404,6 +404,17 @@ void ssh_set_fd_except(ssh_session session) {
   ssh_socket_set_except(session->socket);
 }
 
+static int ssh_make_milliseconds(long sec, long usec) {
+    int res = usec ? (usec / 1000) : 0;
+    res += (sec * 1000);
+    if (res == 0) {
+        res = 10 * 1000; /* use a reasonable default value in case
+                          * SSH_OPTIONS_TIMEOUT is not set in options. */
+    }
+
+    return res;
+}
+
 /**
  * @internal
  *
@@ -415,38 +426,56 @@ void ssh_set_fd_except(ssh_session session) {
  * @param[in] session   The session handle to use.
  *
  * @param[in] timeout   Set an upper limit on the time for which this function
- *                      will block, in milliseconds. Specifying a negative value
- *                      means an infinite timeout. This parameter is passed to
- *                      the poll() function.
+ *                      will block, in milliseconds. Specifying -1
+ *                      means an infinite timeout.
+ *                      Specifying -2 means to use the timeout specified in
+ *                      options. 0 means poll will return immediately. This
+ *                      parameter is passed to the poll() function.
  *
  * @return              SSH_OK on success, SSH_ERROR otherwise.
  */
 int ssh_handle_packets(ssh_session session, int timeout) {
-	ssh_poll_handle spoll_in,spoll_out;
-	ssh_poll_ctx ctx;
-	int rc;
-  if(session==NULL || session->socket==NULL)
-  	return SSH_ERROR;
-  enter_function();
-  spoll_in=ssh_socket_get_poll_handle_in(session->socket);
-  spoll_out=ssh_socket_get_poll_handle_out(session->socket);
-  if(session->server)
-    ssh_poll_add_events(spoll_in, POLLIN);
-  ctx=ssh_poll_get_ctx(spoll_in);
-  if(ctx==NULL){
-  	ctx=ssh_poll_get_default_ctx(session);
-  	ssh_poll_ctx_add(ctx,spoll_in);
-  	if(spoll_in != spoll_out)
-  	  ssh_poll_ctx_add(ctx,spoll_out);
-  }
-  rc = ssh_poll_ctx_dopoll(ctx,timeout);
-  if(rc == SSH_ERROR)
-    session->session_state = SSH_SESSION_STATE_ERROR;
-  leave_function();
-  if (session->session_state != SSH_SESSION_STATE_ERROR)
-  	return SSH_OK;
-  else
-  	return SSH_ERROR;
+    ssh_poll_handle spoll_in,spoll_out;
+    ssh_poll_ctx ctx;
+    int tm = timeout;
+    int rc;
+
+    if (session == NULL || session->socket == NULL) {
+        return SSH_ERROR;
+    }
+    enter_function();
+
+    spoll_in = ssh_socket_get_poll_handle_in(session->socket);
+    spoll_out = ssh_socket_get_poll_handle_out(session->socket);
+    if (session->server) {
+        ssh_poll_add_events(spoll_in, POLLIN);
+    }
+    ctx = ssh_poll_get_ctx(spoll_in);
+
+    if (!ctx) {
+        ctx = ssh_poll_get_default_ctx(session);
+        ssh_poll_ctx_add(ctx, spoll_in);
+        if (spoll_in != spoll_out) {
+            ssh_poll_ctx_add(ctx, spoll_out);
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (timeout == -2) {
+        tm = ssh_make_milliseconds(session->timeout, session->timeout_usec);
+    }
+    rc = ssh_poll_ctx_dopoll(ctx, tm);
+
+    if (rc == SSH_ERROR) {
+        session->session_state = SSH_SESSION_STATE_ERROR;
+    }
+
+    leave_function();
+
+    if (session->session_state == SSH_SESSION_STATE_ERROR) {
+        return SSH_ERROR;
+    }
+
+    return SSH_OK;
 }
 
 /**