diff --git a/roles/nginxplus/defaults/main.yml b/roles/nginxplus/defaults/main.yml
index 8811b62e17..2b30ee780b 100644
--- a/roles/nginxplus/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/nginxplus/defaults/main.yml
@@ -437,3 +437,8 @@ nginx_stream_template:
 nginx_server_names_hash_bucket_size: 64
 nginx_server_names_hash_max_size: 1024
 client_max_body_size: 0
+# These values control how long nginx waits before
+# re-routing slow requests to a different server
+proxy_connect_timeout: 60s
+proxy_send_timeout: 60s
+proxy_read_timeout: 60s
diff --git a/roles/nginxplus/templates/http/library.conf.j2 b/roles/nginxplus/templates/http/library.conf.j2
index 5831346a61..c423bc7fa6 100644
--- a/roles/nginxplus/templates/http/library.conf.j2
+++ b/roles/nginxplus/templates/http/library.conf.j2
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ server {
         proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
         proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
         proxy_cache {{ item.short_name }}cache;
+        proxy_connect_timeout {{ item.proxy_connect_timeout }};
+        proxy_send_timeout {{ item.proxy_send_timeout }};
+        proxy_read_timeout {{ item.proxy_read_timeout }};
         # handle errors using errors.conf
         proxy_intercept_errors on;
         # TODO don't do a health check if there's only one server
@@ -82,6 +85,9 @@ server {
         proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host;
         proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
         proxy_cache {{ item.short_name }}cache;
+        proxy_connect_timeout {{ item.proxy_connect_timeout }};
+        proxy_send_timeout {{ item.proxy_send_timeout }};
+        proxy_read_timeout {{ item.proxy_read_timeout }};
         proxy_intercept_errors on;
         health_check interval=10 fails=3 passes=2;
         # allow princeton network
diff --git a/roles/nginxplus/vars/main.yml b/roles/nginxplus/vars/main.yml
index 8705bc3786..e8e520a793 100644
--- a/roles/nginxplus/vars/main.yml
+++ b/roles/nginxplus/vars/main.yml
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ sites:
     ## client_max_body_size defines the upper limit on request sizes
     ## default is 0 (don't check), if you change this, you must include the unit of measurement
     # client_max_body_size: 8m
+    ## proxy timeouts default to 60 seconds
+    ## to increase or decrease these values, set:
+    # proxy_connect_timeout: 2h
+    # proxy_send_timeout: 2h
+    # proxy_read_timeout: 2h
     ## error handling templates live in /etc/nginx/conf.d/templates/
     ## the default template for handling errors is errors.conf
     # error_handling_template: cdh-errors.conf
@@ -59,6 +64,7 @@ sites:
     rate_limit_mb: 10
     rate_limit_per_sec: 10
     rate_limit_burst_rate: 20
+    # error_handling_template: changeme
   - name: allsearch-api-staging
     servers:
       - allsearch-api-staging1
@@ -68,6 +74,7 @@ sites:
     lbtechnique: least_conn
     client_max_body_size: 512k
     app_protect: enabled
+    # error_handling_template: changeme
 
   # - name: annotations-prod
   #   servers:
@@ -117,6 +124,9 @@ sites:
   #   location: "/"
   #   visibility: public
   #   app_protect: disabled
+  #   proxy_connect_timeout: 2h
+  #   proxy_send_timeout: 2h
+  #   proxy_read_timeout: 2h
   # - name: bibdata-qa
   #   servers:
   #     # - bibdata-qa1
@@ -126,6 +136,9 @@ sites:
   #   visibility: private
   #   added_restrictions: htc_restrict.conf
   #   app_protect: disabled
+  #   proxy_connect_timeout: 2h
+  #   proxy_send_timeout: 2h
+  #   proxy_read_timeout: 2h
   - name: bibdata-staging
     servers:
       # - bibdata-alma-staging1
@@ -136,6 +149,9 @@ sites:
     added_restrictions: 
       - "htc_restrict.conf"
     app_protect: enabled
+    proxy_connect_timeout: 2h
+    proxy_send_timeout: 2h
+    proxy_read_timeout: 2h
   # - name: byzantine-tsp-prod
   #   servers:
   #     - byzantine-tsp-prod