diff --git a/lib/constants.js b/lib/constants.js
index 932793a95..bcd3334b8 100644
--- a/lib/constants.js
+++ b/lib/constants.js
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ const constants = {
     statusUndefined: 'UNDEFINED',
     statusNotReady: 'NOT_READY',
     statusNotConnected: 'NOT_CONNECTED',
+    statusTimedOut: 'TIMED_OUT',
     authTypeAssumeRole: 'assumeRole',
     authTypeAccount: 'account',
     authTypeService: 'service',
diff --git a/lib/queuePopulator/LogReader.js b/lib/queuePopulator/LogReader.js
index 4189cdfea..7c187d7ea 100644
--- a/lib/queuePopulator/LogReader.js
+++ b/lib/queuePopulator/LogReader.js
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ class LogReader {
         this._metricsHandler = params.metricsHandler;
         // TODO: use a common handler for zk metrics from all extensions
         this._zkMetricsHandler = params.zkMetricsHandler;
+
+        this._batchTimeoutSeconds = parseInt(process.env.BATCH_TIMEOUT_SECONDS, 10) || 300;
+        this._batchTimedOut = false;
     }
 
     _setEntryBatch(entryBatch) {
@@ -291,6 +294,21 @@ class LogReader {
             timeoutMs: params.timeoutMs,
             logger: this.log.newRequestLogger(),
         };
+        // When using the RaftLogReader log consumer, The batch
+        // processing can get stuck sometimes for unknown reasons.
+        // As a temporary fix we set a timeout to kill the process.
+        const batchTimeoutTimer = setTimeout(() => {
+            this.log.error('queue populator batch timeout', {
+                logStats: batchState.logStats,
+            });
+            // S3C doesn't currently support restarts on healthcheck failure,
+            // so we just crash for now.
+            if (process.env.CRASH_ON_BATCH_TIMEOUT) {
+                process.emit('SIGTERM');
+            } else {
+                this._batchTimedOut = true;
+            }
+        },  this._batchTimeoutSeconds * 1000);
         async.waterfall([
             next => this._processReadRecords(params, batchState, next),
             next => this._processPrepareEntries(batchState, next),
@@ -299,6 +317,7 @@ class LogReader {
             next => this._processSaveLogOffset(batchState, next),
         ],
             err => {
+                clearTimeout(batchTimeoutTimer);
                 if (err) {
                     return done(err);
                 }
@@ -726,6 +745,10 @@ class LogReader {
         });
         return statuses;
     }
+
+    batchProcessTimedOut() {
+        return this._batchTimedOut;
+    }
 }
 
 module.exports = LogReader;
diff --git a/lib/queuePopulator/QueuePopulator.js b/lib/queuePopulator/QueuePopulator.js
index f16d6fd80..a5ef48155 100644
--- a/lib/queuePopulator/QueuePopulator.js
+++ b/lib/queuePopulator/QueuePopulator.js
@@ -592,6 +592,12 @@ class QueuePopulator {
                     });
                 }
             });
+            if (reader.batchProcessTimedOut()) {
+                responses.push({
+                    component: 'log reader',
+                    status: constants.statusTimedOut,
+                });
+            }
         });
 
         log.debug('verbose liveness', verboseLiveness);
diff --git a/tests/unit/QueuePopulator.spec.js b/tests/unit/QueuePopulator.spec.js
index 583030888..cb9ef7a6f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/QueuePopulator.spec.js
+++ b/tests/unit/QueuePopulator.spec.js
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ describe('QueuePopulator', () => {
             const mockLogReader = sinon.spy();
             mockLogReader.getProducerStatus = sinon.fake(() => prodStatus);
             mockLogReader.getLogInfo = sinon.fake(() => logInfo);
+            mockLogReader.batchProcessTimedOut = sinon.fake(() => false);
             qp.logReaders = [
                 mockLogReader,
             ];
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ describe('QueuePopulator', () => {
             };
             mockLogReader.getProducerStatus = sinon.fake(() => prodStatus);
             mockLogReader.getLogInfo = sinon.fake(() => logInfo);
+            mockLogReader.batchProcessTimedOut = sinon.fake(() => false);
             qp.logReaders = [
                 mockLogReader,
             ];
@@ -91,5 +93,31 @@ describe('QueuePopulator', () => {
                 ])
             );
         });
+
+        it('returns proper details when batch process timed out', () => {
+            const mockLogReader = sinon.spy();
+            mockLogReader.getProducerStatus = sinon.fake(() => ({
+                topicA: true,
+            }));
+            mockLogReader.getLogInfo = sinon.fake(() => {});
+            mockLogReader.batchProcessTimedOut = sinon.fake(() => true);
+            qp.logReaders = [
+                mockLogReader,
+            ];
+            qp.zkClient = {
+                getState: () => zookeeper.State.SYNC_CONNECTED,
+            };
+            qp.handleLiveness(mockRes, mockLog);
+            sinon.assert.calledOnceWithExactly(mockRes.writeHead, 500);
+            sinon.assert.calledOnceWithExactly(
+                mockRes.end,
+                JSON.stringify([
+                    {
+                        component: 'log reader',
+                        status: constants.statusTimedOut,
+                    },
+                ])
+            );
+        });
     });
 });
diff --git a/tests/unit/lib/queuePopulator/LogReader.spec.js b/tests/unit/lib/queuePopulator/LogReader.spec.js
index 638878987..2c515d1dd 100644
--- a/tests/unit/lib/queuePopulator/LogReader.spec.js
+++ b/tests/unit/lib/queuePopulator/LogReader.spec.js
@@ -297,4 +297,73 @@ describe('LogReader', () => {
             });
         });
     });
+
+    describe('processLogEntries', () => {
+        it('should shutdown when batch processing is stuck and CRASH_ON_BATCH_TIMEOUT is set', done => {
+            process.env.CRASH_ON_BATCH_TIMEOUT = true;
+            logReader._batchTimeoutSeconds = 1;
+            // logReader will become stuck as _processReadRecords will never
+            // call the callback
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processReadRecords').returns();
+            let emmitted = false;
+            process.once('SIGTERM', () => {
+                emmitted = true;
+            });
+            logReader.processLogEntries({}, () => {});
+            setTimeout(() => {
+                assert.strictEqual(emmitted, true);
+                delete process.env.CRASH_ON_BATCH_TIMEOUT;
+                done();
+            }, 2000);
+        }).timeout(4000);
+
+        it('should fail healthcheck when batch processing is stuck', done => {
+            delete process.env.CRASH_ON_BATCH_TIMEOUT;
+            logReader._batchTimeoutSeconds = 1;
+            // logReader will become stuck as _processReadRecords will never
+            // call the callback
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processReadRecords').returns();
+            let emmitted = false;
+            process.once('SIGTERM', () => {
+                emmitted = true;
+            });
+            logReader.processLogEntries({}, () => {});
+            setTimeout(() => {
+                assert.strictEqual(emmitted, false);
+                assert.strictEqual(logReader.batchProcessTimedOut(), true);
+                done();
+            }, 2000);
+        }).timeout(4000);
+
+        it('should not shutdown if timeout not reached', done => {
+            process.env.CRASH_ON_BATCH_TIMEOUT = true;
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processReadRecords').yields();
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processPrepareEntries').yields();
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processFilterEntries').yields();
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processPublishEntries').yields();
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processSaveLogOffset').yields();
+            let emmitted = false;
+            process.once('SIGTERM', () => {
+                emmitted = true;
+            });
+            logReader.processLogEntries({}, () => {
+                assert.strictEqual(emmitted, false);
+                delete process.env.CRASH_ON_BATCH_TIMEOUT;
+                done();
+            });
+        });
+
+        it('should not fail healthcheck if timeout not reached', done => {
+            delete process.env.CRASH_ON_BATCH_TIMEOUT;
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processReadRecords').yields();
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processPrepareEntries').yields();
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processFilterEntries').yields();
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processPublishEntries').yields();
+            sinon.stub(logReader, '_processSaveLogOffset').yields();
+            logReader.processLogEntries({}, () => {
+                assert.strictEqual(logReader.batchProcessTimedOut(), false);
+                done();
+            });
+        });
+    });
 });