diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts.py
index 98e466ecbf6..d8223b90bee 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/facts.py
@@ -81,16 +81,16 @@ GATHER_TIMEOUT=None
 class TimeoutError(Exception):
     pass
 
-def timeout(seconds=10, error_message="Timer expired"):
+def timeout(seconds=None, error_message="Timer expired"):
+
+    if seconds is None:
+        seconds = globals().get('GATHER_TIMEOUT') or 10
 
     def decorator(func):
         def _handle_timeout(signum, frame):
             raise TimeoutError(error_message)
 
         def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
-            if 'GATHER_TIMEOUT' in globals():
-                if GATHER_TIMEOUT:
-                    seconds = GATHER_TIMEOUT
             signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, _handle_timeout)
             signal.alarm(seconds)
             try:
@@ -1327,7 +1327,7 @@ class LinuxHardware(Hardware):
             mtab_entries.append(fields)
         return mtab_entries
 
-    @timeout(10)
+    @timeout()
     def get_mount_facts(self):
         self.facts['mounts'] = []
 
@@ -1584,7 +1584,7 @@ class SunOSHardware(Hardware):
         self.facts['swap_allocated_mb'] = allocated // 1024
         self.facts['swap_reserved_mb'] = reserved // 1024
 
-    @timeout(10)
+    @timeout()
     def get_mount_facts(self):
         self.facts['mounts'] = []
         # For a detailed format description see mnttab(4)
@@ -1629,11 +1629,14 @@ class OpenBSDHardware(Hardware):
         self.get_memory_facts()
         self.get_processor_facts()
         self.get_device_facts()
-        self.get_mount_facts()
+        try:
+            self.get_mount_facts()
+        except TimeoutError:
+            pass
         self.get_dmi_facts()
         return self.facts
 
-    @timeout(10)
+    @timeout()
     def get_mount_facts(self):
         self.facts['mounts'] = []
         fstab = get_file_content('/etc/fstab')
@@ -1776,7 +1779,7 @@ class FreeBSDHardware(Hardware):
             self.facts['swaptotal_mb'] = int(data[1]) // 1024
             self.facts['swapfree_mb'] = int(data[3]) // 1024
 
-    @timeout(10)
+    @timeout()
     def get_mount_facts(self):
         self.facts['mounts'] = []
         fstab = get_file_content('/etc/fstab')
@@ -1907,7 +1910,7 @@ class NetBSDHardware(Hardware):
                 val = data[1].strip().split(' ')[0]
                 self.facts["%s_mb" % key.lower()] = int(val) // 1024
 
-    @timeout(10)
+    @timeout()
     def get_mount_facts(self):
         self.facts['mounts'] = []
         fstab = get_file_content('/etc/fstab')
@@ -2241,7 +2244,10 @@ class HurdHardware(LinuxHardware):
     def populate(self):
         self.get_uptime_facts()
         self.get_memory_facts()
-        self.get_mount_facts()
+        try:
+            self.get_mount_facts()
+        except TimeoutError:
+            pass
         return self.facts
 
 class Network(Facts):