diff --git a/lib/adapters/http.js b/lib/adapters/http.js
index eeec94445a..0cca3bdfbb 100755
--- a/lib/adapters/http.js
+++ b/lib/adapters/http.js
@@ -279,15 +279,29 @@ module.exports = function httpAdapter(config) {
 
     // Handle request timeout
     if (config.timeout) {
+      // This is forcing a int timeout to avoid problems if the `req` interface doesn't handle other types.
+      var timeout = parseInt(config.timeout, 10);
+
+      if (isNaN(timeout)) {
+        reject(createError(
+          'error trying to parse `config.timeout` to int',
+          config,
+          'ERR_PARSE_TIMEOUT',
+          req
+        ));
+
+        return;
+      }
+
       // Sometime, the response will be very slow, and does not respond, the connect event will be block by event loop system.
       // And timer callback will be fired, and abort() will be invoked before connection, then get "socket hang up" and code ECONNRESET.
       // At this time, if we have a large number of request, nodejs will hang up some socket on background. and the number will up and up.
       // And then these socket which be hang up will devoring CPU little by little.
       // ClientRequest.setTimeout will be fired on the specify milliseconds, and can make sure that abort() will be fired after connect.
-      req.setTimeout(config.timeout, function handleRequestTimeout() {
+      req.setTimeout(timeout, function handleRequestTimeout() {
         req.abort();
         reject(createError(
-          'timeout of ' + config.timeout + 'ms exceeded',
+          'timeout of ' + timeout + 'ms exceeded',
           config,
           config.transitional && config.transitional.clarifyTimeoutError ? 'ETIMEDOUT' : 'ECONNABORTED',
           req
diff --git a/test/unit/adapters/http.js b/test/unit/adapters/http.js
index 38b5741a68..5c73cb19de 100644
--- a/test/unit/adapters/http.js
+++ b/test/unit/adapters/http.js
@@ -29,6 +29,64 @@ describe('supports http with nodejs', function () {
     }
   });
 
+  it('should throw an error if the timeout property is not parsable as a number', function (done) {
+
+    server = http.createServer(function (req, res) {
+      setTimeout(function () {
+        res.end();
+      }, 1000);
+    }).listen(4444, function () {
+      var success = false, failure = false;
+      var error;
+
+      axios.get('http://localhost:4444/', {
+        timeout: { strangeTimeout: 250 }
+      }).then(function (res) {
+        success = true;
+      }).catch(function (err) {
+        error = err;
+        failure = true;
+      });
+
+      setTimeout(function () {
+        assert.equal(success, false, 'request should not succeed');
+        assert.equal(failure, true, 'request should fail');
+        assert.equal(error.code, 'ERR_PARSE_TIMEOUT');
+        assert.equal(error.message, 'error trying to parse `config.timeout` to int');
+        done();
+      }, 300);
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should parse the timeout property', function (done) {
+
+    server = http.createServer(function (req, res) {
+      setTimeout(function () {
+        res.end();
+      }, 1000);
+    }).listen(4444, function () {
+      var success = false, failure = false;
+      var error;
+
+      axios.get('http://localhost:4444/', {
+        timeout: '250'
+      }).then(function (res) {
+        success = true;
+      }).catch(function (err) {
+        error = err;
+        failure = true;
+      });
+
+      setTimeout(function () {
+        assert.equal(success, false, 'request should not succeed');
+        assert.equal(failure, true, 'request should fail');
+        assert.equal(error.code, 'ECONNABORTED');
+        assert.equal(error.message, 'timeout of 250ms exceeded');
+        done();
+      }, 300);
+    });
+  });
+
   it('should respect the timeout property', function (done) {
 
     server = http.createServer(function (req, res) {