diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Configuration/GlobalSettings.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Configuration/GlobalSettings.cs
index 2c79c00086..1d1ccaf7b4 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Configuration/GlobalSettings.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Configuration/GlobalSettings.cs
@@ -391,5 +391,28 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Configuration
                 }
             }
         }
+
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// An int value representing the time in milliseconds to lock the database for a write operation
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// The default value is 1800 milliseconds
+        /// </remarks>
+        /// <value>The timeout in milliseconds.</value>
+        public int SqlWriteLockTimeOut
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                try
+                {
+                    return int.Parse(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings[Constants.AppSettings.SqlWriteLockTimeOut]);
+                }
+                catch
+                {
+                    return 1800;
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Configuration/IGlobalSettings.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Configuration/IGlobalSettings.cs
index fd5140042c..483829f85f 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Configuration/IGlobalSettings.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Configuration/IGlobalSettings.cs
@@ -72,5 +72,10 @@
         /// Gets the location of temporary files.
         /// </summary>
         string LocalTempPath { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets the write lock timeout.
+        /// </summary>
+        int SqlWriteLockTimeOut { get; }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Constants-AppSettings.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Constants-AppSettings.cs
index cb3b0d48d0..0182034011 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Constants-AppSettings.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Constants-AppSettings.cs
@@ -140,6 +140,14 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core
                 /// </summary>
                 public const string DatabaseFactoryServerVersion = "Umbraco.Core.Debug.DatabaseFactoryServerVersion";
             }
+
+            /// <summary>
+            /// An int value representing the time in milliseconds to lock the database for a write operation
+            /// </summary>
+            /// <remarks>
+            /// The default value is 1800 milliseconds
+            /// </remarks>
+            public const string SqlWriteLockTimeOut = "Umbraco.Core.SqlWriteLockTimeOut";
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlCeSyntaxProvider.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlCeSyntaxProvider.cs
index d37905f221..046f54405a 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlCeSyntaxProvider.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlCeSyntaxProvider.cs
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Configuration;
 using System.Data;
 using System.Data.SqlServerCe;
 using System.Linq;
 using NPoco;
+using Umbraco.Core.Composing;
 using Umbraco.Core.Persistence.DatabaseAnnotations;
 using Umbraco.Core.Persistence.DatabaseModelDefinitions;
 
@@ -163,7 +165,8 @@ where table_name=@0 and column_name=@1", tableName, columnName).FirstOrDefault()
             if (db.Transaction.IsolationLevel < IsolationLevel.RepeatableRead)
                 throw new InvalidOperationException("A transaction with minimum RepeatableRead isolation level is required.");
 
-            db.Execute(@"SET LOCK_TIMEOUT 1800;");
+            var timeOut = Current.Configs.Global().SqlWriteLockTimeOut;
+            db.Execute(@"SET LOCK_TIMEOUT " + timeOut  + ";");
             // *not* using a unique 'WHERE IN' query here because the *order* of lockIds is important to avoid deadlocks
             foreach (var lockId in lockIds)
             {
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlServerSyntaxProvider.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlServerSyntaxProvider.cs
index 9d33a2169c..3fc5e36f6e 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlServerSyntaxProvider.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/SqlSyntax/SqlServerSyntaxProvider.cs
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Configuration;
 using System.Data;
 using System.Data.Common;
 using System.Data.SqlClient;
 using System.Linq;
 using NPoco;
+using Umbraco.Core.Composing;
 using Umbraco.Core.Logging;
 using Umbraco.Core.Persistence.DatabaseModelDefinitions;
 using Umbraco.Core.Scoping;
@@ -254,7 +256,8 @@ where tbl.[name]=@0 and col.[name]=@1;", tableName, columnName)
 
         public override void WriteLock(IDatabase db, params int[] lockIds)
         {
-            WriteLock(db, TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(1800), lockIds);
+            var timeOut = Current.Configs.Global().SqlWriteLockTimeOut;
+            WriteLock(db, TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(timeOut), lockIds);
         }
 
         public void WriteLock(IDatabase db, TimeSpan timeout, params int[] lockIds)
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/SettingsForTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/SettingsForTests.cs
index 572d572ab7..1121a48823 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/SettingsForTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/SettingsForTests.cs
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.TestHelpers
                     settings.LocalTempStorageLocation == LocalTempStorage.Default &&
                     settings.LocalTempPath == IOHelper.MapPath("~/App_Data/TEMP") &&
                     settings.ReservedPaths == (GlobalSettings.StaticReservedPaths + "~/umbraco") &&
-                    settings.ReservedUrls == GlobalSettings.StaticReservedUrls);
+                    settings.ReservedUrls == GlobalSettings.StaticReservedUrls &&
+                    settings.SqlWriteLockTimeOut == 1800);
             return config;
         }