diff --git a/lib/_http_client.js b/lib/_http_client.js
index e073e973bbf205..de7b01cbd1b9bd 100644
--- a/lib/_http_client.js
+++ b/lib/_http_client.js
@@ -140,7 +140,9 @@ function ClientRequest(input, options, cb) {
   var setHost = (options.setHost === undefined || Boolean(options.setHost));
 
   this.socketPath = options.socketPath;
-  this.timeout = options.timeout;
+
+  if (options.timeout !== undefined)
+    this.timeout = validateTimerDuration(options.timeout, 'timeout');
 
   var method = options.method;
   var methodIsString = (typeof method === 'string');
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-http-client-timeout-option.js b/test/parallel/test-http-client-timeout-option.js
index 6741fbe0bd1e35..6351a2ca4a3ae1 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-http-client-timeout-option.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-http-client-timeout-option.js
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ const common = require('../common');
 const assert = require('assert');
 const http = require('http');
 
+assert.throws(() => {
+  http.request({ timeout: null });
+}, /The "timeout" argument must be of type number/);
+
 const options = {
   method: 'GET',
   port: undefined,