diff --git a/src/client.ts b/src/client.ts
index 50ba4942f..12a88cc24 100644
--- a/src/client.ts
+++ b/src/client.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ import {
   Context
 } from '@elastic/transport/lib/types'
 import { RedactionOptions } from '@elastic/transport/lib/Transport'
-import BaseConnection, { prepareHeaders } from '@elastic/transport/lib/connection/BaseConnection'
+import BaseConnection, { prepareHeaders, ConnectionOptions } from '@elastic/transport/lib/connection/BaseConnection'
 import SniffingTransport from './sniffingTransport'
 import Helpers from './helpers'
 import API from './api'
@@ -237,7 +237,35 @@ export default class Client extends API {
         diagnostic: this.diagnostic,
         caFingerprint: options.caFingerprint
       })
-      this.connectionPool.addConnection(options.node ?? options.nodes)
+
+      // ensure default connection values are inherited when creating new connections
+      // see https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch-js/issues/1791
+      const nodes = options.node ?? options.nodes
+      let nodeOptions: Array<string | ConnectionOptions> = Array.isArray(nodes) ? nodes : [nodes]
+      type ConnectionDefaults = Record<string, any>
+      nodeOptions = nodeOptions.map(opt => {
+        const { tls, headers, auth, requestTimeout: timeout, agent, proxy, caFingerprint } = options
+        let defaults: ConnectionDefaults = { tls, headers, auth, timeout, agent, proxy, caFingerprint }
+
+        // strip undefined values from defaults
+        defaults = Object.keys(defaults).reduce((acc: ConnectionDefaults, key) => {
+          const val = defaults[key]
+          if (val !== undefined) acc[key] = val
+          return acc
+        }, {})
+
+        let newOpts
+        if (typeof opt === 'string') {
+          newOpts = {
+            url: new URL(opt)
+          }
+        } else {
+          newOpts = opt
+        }
+
+        return { ...defaults, ...newOpts }
+      })
+      this.connectionPool.addConnection(nodeOptions)
     }
 
     this.transport = new options.Transport({
@@ -282,7 +310,7 @@ export default class Client extends API {
     // Merge the new options with the initial ones
     // @ts-expect-error kChild symbol is for internal use only
     const options: ClientOptions = Object.assign({}, this[kInitialOptions], opts)
-    // Pass to the child client the parent instances that cannot be overriden
+    // Pass to the child client the parent instances that cannot be overridden
     // @ts-expect-error kInitialOptions symbol is for internal use only
     options[kChild] = {
       connectionPool: this.connectionPool,
diff --git a/test/unit/client.test.ts b/test/unit/client.test.ts
index b9481d19b..b896946ad 100644
--- a/test/unit/client.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/client.test.ts
@@ -17,9 +17,11 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 
+import * as http from 'http'
 import { test } from 'tap'
 import { URL } from 'url'
-import { connection } from '../utils'
+import FakeTimers from '@sinonjs/fake-timers'
+import { buildServer, connection } from '../utils'
 import { Client, errors } from '../..'
 import * as symbols from '@elastic/transport/lib/symbols'
 import { BaseConnectionPool, CloudConnectionPool, WeightedConnectionPool } from '@elastic/transport'
@@ -441,3 +443,42 @@ test('user agent is in the correct format', t => {
   t.ok(/^\d+\.\d+\.\d+/.test(agentSplit[0].split('/')[1]))
   t.end()
 })
+
+test('Ensure new client instance stores requestTimeout for each connection', t => {
+  const client = new Client({
+    node: { url: new URL('http://localhost:9200') },
+    requestTimeout: 60000,
+  })
+  t.equal(client.connectionPool.connections[0].timeout, 60000)
+  t.end()
+})
+
+test('Ensure new client does not time out at default (30s) when client sets requestTimeout', async t => {
+  const clock = FakeTimers.install({ toFake: ['setTimeout', 'clearTimeout'] })
+  t.teardown(() => clock.uninstall())
+
+  function handler (_req: http.IncomingMessage, res: http.ServerResponse) {
+    setTimeout(() => {
+      t.pass('timeout ended')
+      res.setHeader('content-type', 'application/json')
+      res.end(JSON.stringify({ success: true }))
+    }, 31000) // default is 30000
+    clock.runToLast()
+  }
+
+  const [{ port }, server] = await buildServer(handler)
+
+  const client = new Client({
+    node: `http://localhost:${port}`,
+    requestTimeout: 60000
+  })
+
+  try {
+    await client.transport.request({ method: 'GET', path: '/' })
+  } catch (error) {
+    t.fail('timeout error hit')
+  } finally {
+    server.stop()
+    t.end()
+  }
+})