diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/openstack.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/openstack.py
index 35b9026213e..9e4824a301d 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/openstack.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/openstack.py
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ def openstack_full_argument_spec(**kwargs):
         key=dict(default=None),
         wait=dict(default=True, type='bool'),
         timeout=dict(default=180, type='int'),
+        api_timeout=dict(default=None, type='int'),
         endpoint_type=dict(
             default='public', choices=['public', 'internal', 'admin']
         )
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/module_docs_fragments/openstack.py b/lib/ansible/utils/module_docs_fragments/openstack.py
index 2979cb68d7b..5643b4e6acc 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/module_docs_fragments/openstack.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/module_docs_fragments/openstack.py
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ options:
       - How long should ansible wait for the requested resource.
     required: false
     default: 180
+  api_timeout:
+    description:
+      - How long should the socket layer wait before timing out for API calls.
+        If this is omitted, nothing will be passed to the requests library.
+    required: false
   verify:
     description:
       - Whether or not SSL API requests should be verified.
diff --git a/v2/ansible/module_utils/openstack.py b/v2/ansible/module_utils/openstack.py
index 35b9026213e..9e4824a301d 100644
--- a/v2/ansible/module_utils/openstack.py
+++ b/v2/ansible/module_utils/openstack.py
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ def openstack_full_argument_spec(**kwargs):
         key=dict(default=None),
         wait=dict(default=True, type='bool'),
         timeout=dict(default=180, type='int'),
+        api_timeout=dict(default=None, type='int'),
         endpoint_type=dict(
             default='public', choices=['public', 'internal', 'admin']
         )