diff --git a/pkg/unikontainers/unikontainers.go b/pkg/unikontainers/unikontainers.go
index b7d61def7..36f1923bb 100644
--- a/pkg/unikontainers/unikontainers.go
+++ b/pkg/unikontainers/unikontainers.go
@@ -890,7 +890,7 @@ func (u *Unikontainer) executeHooksConcurrently(name string, hooks []specs.Hook,
 		wg.Add(1)
 		go func(h specs.Hook) {
 			defer wg.Done()
-			err := executeHook(h, s)
+			err := executeHook(h, s, u.UruncCfg.DefaultHookTimeoutSec)
 			if err != nil {
 				uniklog.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
 					"id":    u.State.ID,
@@ -930,7 +930,7 @@ func (u *Unikontainer) executeHooksSequentially(name string, hooks []specs.Hook,
 			"args": hooks[i].Args,
 		}).Debug("Executing hook")
 
-		err := executeHook(hooks[i], s)
+		err := executeHook(hooks[i], s, u.UruncCfg.DefaultHookTimeoutSec)
 		if err != nil {
 			uniklog.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
 				"id":    u.State.ID,
diff --git a/pkg/unikontainers/urunc_config.go b/pkg/unikontainers/urunc_config.go
index 871645046..cc47ab914 100644
--- a/pkg/unikontainers/urunc_config.go
+++ b/pkg/unikontainers/urunc_config.go
@@ -35,10 +35,11 @@ type UruncTimestamps struct {
 }
 
 type UruncConfig struct {
-	Log        UruncLog                        `toml:"log"`
-	Timestamps UruncTimestamps                 `toml:"timestamps"`
-	Monitors   map[string]types.MonitorConfig  `toml:"monitors"`
-	ExtraBins  map[string]types.ExtraBinConfig `toml:"extra_binaries"`
+	Log                   UruncLog                        `toml:"log"`
+	Timestamps            UruncTimestamps                 `toml:"timestamps"`
+	Monitors              map[string]types.MonitorConfig  `toml:"monitors"`
+	ExtraBins             map[string]types.ExtraBinConfig `toml:"extra_binaries"`
+	DefaultHookTimeoutSec uint                            `toml:"default_hook_timeout_sec"`
 }
 
 // this struct is used to parse only the log and timestamp section of the urunc config file
@@ -96,10 +97,11 @@ func defaultExtraBinConfig() map[string]types.ExtraBinConfig {
 
 func defaultUruncConfig() *UruncConfig {
 	return &UruncConfig{
-		Log:        defaultLogConfig(),
-		Timestamps: defaultTimestampsConfig(),
-		Monitors:   defaultMonitorsConfig(),
-		ExtraBins:  defaultExtraBinConfig(),
+		Log:                   defaultLogConfig(),
+		Timestamps:            defaultTimestampsConfig(),
+		Monitors:              defaultMonitorsConfig(),
+		ExtraBins:             defaultExtraBinConfig(),
+		DefaultHookTimeoutSec: 30,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/unikontainers/urunc_config_test.go b/pkg/unikontainers/urunc_config_test.go
index 89328847e..b25728c19 100644
--- a/pkg/unikontainers/urunc_config_test.go
+++ b/pkg/unikontainers/urunc_config_test.go
@@ -525,6 +525,7 @@ func TestDefaultConfigs(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Equal(t, testTimestampsPath, config.Timestamps.Destination)
 		assert.Len(t, config.Monitors, 5)
 		assert.Len(t, config.ExtraBins, 1)
+		assert.Equal(t, uint(30), config.DefaultHookTimeoutSec)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("defaultLogMetricsConfig", func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/unikontainers/utils.go b/pkg/unikontainers/utils.go
index 3f2c64bc6..eb195bd65 100644
--- a/pkg/unikontainers/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/unikontainers/utils.go
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ func rmMultipleDirs(prefixPath string, dirs []string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func executeHook(hook specs.Hook, state []byte) error {
+func executeHook(hook specs.Hook, state []byte, defaultTimeoutSec uint) error {
 	var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
 	var cancel context.CancelFunc
 	ctx := context.Background()
@@ -312,6 +312,8 @@ func executeHook(hook specs.Hook, state []byte) error {
 	// Apply hook-specific timeout if set, otherwise use global config timeout
 	if hook.Timeout != nil && *hook.Timeout > 0 {
 		ctx, cancel = context.WithTimeout(ctx, time.Duration(*hook.Timeout)*time.Second)
+	} else if defaultTimeoutSec > 0 {
+		ctx, cancel = context.WithTimeout(ctx, time.Duration(defaultTimeoutSec)*time.Second)
 	}
 	if cancel != nil {
 		defer cancel()