diff --git a/documentation/changelog.md b/documentation/changelog.md
index e43fdcc..15507de 100644
--- a/documentation/changelog.md
+++ b/documentation/changelog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 # Change Log
 
+## Release 2.16
+
+24 Auguts 2016
+
+* This is a minor bug fix release
+
+  * Added a 2 second timeout for retrieiving Firmata Firmware Verison
+  * If the request times out, the application will exit since there is no connectivity to the Arduino.
+
 ## Release 2.15
 
 31 July 2016
diff --git a/pymata_aio/private_constants.py b/pymata_aio/private_constants.py
index d04f2ca..9078de9 100644
--- a/pymata_aio/private_constants.py
+++ b/pymata_aio/private_constants.py
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class PrivateConstants:
     SYSEX_REALTIME = 0x7F  # MIDI Reserved for realtime messages
 
     # reserved for PyMata
-    PYMATA_VERSION = "2.15"
+    PYMATA_VERSION = "2.16"
 
     # each byte represents a digital port
     #  and its value contains the current port settings
diff --git a/pymata_aio/pymata_core.py b/pymata_aio/pymata_core.py
index 48c9871..fed59d6 100644
--- a/pymata_aio/pymata_core.py
+++ b/pymata_aio/pymata_core.py
@@ -401,6 +401,35 @@ async def start_aio(self):
 
         # get arduino firmware version and print it
         firmware_version = await self.get_firmware_version()
+        if not firmware_version:
+            if self.log_output:
+                log_string = '*** Firmware Version retrieval timed out. ***'
+
+                logging.exception(log_string)
+                log_string = '\nDo you have Arduino connectivity and do you ' \
+                             'have a Firmata sketch uploaded to the board?'
+                logging.exception(log_string)
+
+            else:
+                print('*** Firmware Version retrieval timed out. ***')
+                print('\nDo you have Arduino connectivity and do you have a '
+                      'Firmata sketch uploaded to the board?')
+            try:
+                loop = self.loop
+                for t in asyncio.Task.all_tasks(loop):
+                    t.cancel()
+                loop.run_until_complete(asyncio.sleep(.1))
+                loop.stop()
+                loop.close()
+                sys.exit(0)
+            except RuntimeError:
+                self.the_task.cancel()
+                time.sleep(1)
+                # this suppresses the Event Loop Is Running message,
+                # which may be a bug in python 3.4.3
+                sys.exit(0)
+            except TypeError:
+                sys.exit(0)
         if self.log_output:
             log_string = "\nArduino Firmware ID: " + firmware_version
             logging.exception(log_string)
@@ -720,10 +749,14 @@ async def get_firmware_version(self):
 
         :returns: Firmata firmware version
         """
+        current_time = time.time()
         if self.query_reply_data.get(PrivateConstants.REPORT_FIRMWARE) == '':
             await self._send_sysex(PrivateConstants.REPORT_FIRMWARE, None)
             while self.query_reply_data.get(
                     PrivateConstants.REPORT_FIRMWARE) == '':
+                elapsed_time = time.time()
+                if elapsed_time - current_time > 2:
+                    return None
                 await asyncio.sleep(self.sleep_tune)
         reply = ''
         for x in self.query_reply_data.get(PrivateConstants.REPORT_FIRMWARE):
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index d584c6e..8766cee 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name='pymata-aio',
-    version='2.15',
+    version='2.16',
     packages=['pymata_aio'],
     install_requires=['pyserial==2.7', 'websockets'],
     url='https://github.com/MrYsLab/pymata-aio/wiki',