diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/cancel.go b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/cancel.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8eff915d7da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/cancel.go
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2019 The Tekton Authors
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package taskrun
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/pkg/apis/pipeline/v1alpha1"
+	podconvert "github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/pkg/pod"
+	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
+	"knative.dev/pkg/apis"
+)
+
+type logger interface {
+	Warn(args ...interface{})
+	Warnf(template string, args ...interface{})
+	Infof(template string, args ...interface{})
+}
+
+func killTaskRun(tr *v1alpha1.TaskRun, clientSet kubernetes.Interface,
+	logger logger, reason, message string) error {
+
+	logger.Warn("stopping task run %q because of %q", tr.Name, reason)
+	tr.Status.SetCondition(&apis.Condition{
+		Type:    apis.ConditionSucceeded,
+		Status:  corev1.ConditionFalse,
+		Reason:  reason,
+		Message: message,
+	})
+
+	// update tr completed time
+	tr.Status.CompletionTime = &metav1.Time{Time: time.Now()}
+
+	if tr.Status.PodName == "" {
+		logger.Warnf("task run %q has no pod running yet", tr.Name)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// tr.Status.PodName will be empty if the pod was never successfully created. This condition
+	// can be reached, for example, by the pod never being schedulable due to limits imposed by
+	// a namespace's ResourceQuota.
+	err := clientSet.CoreV1().Pods(tr.Namespace).Delete(tr.Status.PodName, &metav1.DeleteOptions{})
+	if err != nil && !errors.IsNotFound(err) {
+		logger.Warnf("Failed to terminate pod: %v", err)
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// cancelTaskRun marks the TaskRun as cancelled and delete pods linked to it.
+func cancelTaskRun(tr *v1alpha1.TaskRun, clientSet kubernetes.Interface, logger logger) error {
+	message := fmt.Sprintf("TaskRun %q was cancelled", tr.Name)
+	return killTaskRun(tr, clientSet, logger, "TaskRunCancelled", message)
+}
+
+func timeoutTaskRun(tr *v1alpha1.TaskRun, clientSet kubernetes.Interface, logger logger) error {
+	message := fmt.Sprintf("TaskRun %q failed to finish within %q", tr.Name, tr.Spec.Timeout.Duration.String())
+	return killTaskRun(tr, clientSet, logger, podconvert.ReasonTimedOut, message)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go
index 1f51b1e434d..0ab304c0ddf 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go
@@ -164,22 +164,36 @@ func (c *Reconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, key string) error {
 	// If the TaskRun is cancelled, kill resources and update status
 	if tr.IsCancelled() {
 		before := tr.Status.GetCondition(apis.ConditionSucceeded)
+<<<<<<< HEAD
 		message := fmt.Sprintf("TaskRun %q was cancelled", tr.Name)
 		err := c.failTaskRun(tr, v1beta1.TaskRunReasonCancelled, message)
 		after := tr.Status.GetCondition(apis.ConditionSucceeded)
 		reconciler.EmitEvent(c.Recorder, before, after, tr)
 		return multierror.Append(err, c.updateStatusLabelsAndAnnotations(tr, original)).ErrorOrNil()
+=======
+		err := cancelTaskRun(tr, c.KubeClientSet, c.Logger)
+		after := tr.Status.GetCondition(apis.ConditionSucceeded)
+		reconciler.EmitEvent(c.Recorder, before, after, tr)
+		return err
+>>>>>>> Consolidate cancel and timeout logic
 	}
 
 	// Check if the TaskRun has timed out; if it is, this will set its status
 	// accordingly.
 	if tr.HasTimedOut() {
 		before := tr.Status.GetCondition(apis.ConditionSucceeded)
+<<<<<<< HEAD
 		message := fmt.Sprintf("TaskRun %q failed to finish within %q", tr.Name, tr.GetTimeout())
 		err := c.failTaskRun(tr, podconvert.ReasonTimedOut, message)
 		after := tr.Status.GetCondition(apis.ConditionSucceeded)
 		reconciler.EmitEvent(c.Recorder, before, after, tr)
 		return multierror.Append(err, c.updateStatusLabelsAndAnnotations(tr, original)).ErrorOrNil()
+=======
+		err := timeoutTaskRun(tr, c.KubeClientSet, c.Logger)
+		after := tr.Status.GetCondition(apis.ConditionSucceeded)
+		reconciler.EmitEvent(c.Recorder, before, after, tr)
+		return err
+>>>>>>> Consolidate cancel and timeout logic
 	}
 
 	// Reconcile this copy of the task run and then write back any status
@@ -196,6 +210,10 @@ func (c *Reconciler) reconcile(ctx context.Context, tr *v1alpha1.TaskRun) error
 	// and may not have had all of the assumed default specified.
 	tr.SetDefaults(contexts.WithUpgradeViaDefaulting(ctx))
 
+	if tr.Spec.Timeout == nil {
+		tr.Spec.Timeout = &metav1.Duration{Duration: config.DefaultTimeoutMinutes * time.Minute}
+	}
+
 	if err := tr.ConvertTo(ctx, &v1beta1.TaskRun{}); err != nil {
 		if ce, ok := err.(*v1beta1.CannotConvertError); ok {
 			tr.Status.MarkResourceNotConvertible(ce)