diff --git a/src/core/server/services/fetch/fetch.ts b/src/core/server/services/fetch/fetch.ts
index dcc8e112e..39967da68 100644
--- a/src/core/server/services/fetch/fetch.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/services/fetch/fetch.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
+import AbortController from "abort-controller";
 import http from "http";
 import https from "https";
 import { capitalize } from "lodash";
 import { clearLongTimeout } from "long-settimeout";
-import fetch, { RequestInit, Response } from "node-fetch";
+import fetch, { RequestInfo, RequestInit, Response } from "node-fetch";
 import { URL } from "url";
 
 import { version } from "coral-common/version";
@@ -58,6 +59,83 @@ export function generateFetchOptions(
   };
 }
 
+/**
+ * Create a fetch request with a time out.
+ * Inspired by: https://www.lowmess.com/blog/fetch-with-timeout/
+ *
+ * @param name gives the request headers user agent a name
+ * @param url the url you want to make a request against
+ * @param options fetch options, will override preset defaults
+ * @param timeMs time in milliseconds to wait for response
+ */
+export const fetchWithTimeout = (
+  name: string,
+  url: RequestInfo,
+  options = {},
+  timeMs?: number
+) => {
+  const controller = new AbortController();
+
+  // Create HTTP agents to improve connection performance.
+  const agents = {
+    https: new https.Agent({
+      keepAlive: true,
+    }),
+    http: new http.Agent({
+      keepAlive: true,
+    }),
+  };
+
+  // agent will select the correct agent to use for reusing the agent.
+  const agent = (agentUrl: URL) =>
+    agentUrl.protocol === "http:" ? agents.http : agents.https;
+
+  const defaultHeaders = {
+    "User-Agent": `Coral ${capitalize(name)}/${version}`,
+  };
+
+  const config: FetchOptions = {
+    agent,
+    headers: {
+      ...defaultHeaders,
+    },
+    // Limit response sizes to 2MB of response data. 1e6B is 1MB.
+    size: 2e6,
+    // Do not follow redirects automatically, and do not error if we
+    // encounter one. We'll treat the response from the request as the
+    // endpoints final response.
+    redirect: "manual",
+    // Attach the controller signal to abort the request after the timeout
+    // is reached.
+    signal: controller.signal,
+
+    ...options,
+  };
+
+  const time = timeMs ? timeMs : 10000;
+  const timeOut = setTimeout(() => {
+    controller.abort();
+  }, time);
+
+  return fetch(url, config)
+    .then((response) => {
+      clearTimeout(timeOut);
+
+      if (!response.ok) {
+        throw new Error(`${response.status}: ${response.statusText}`);
+      }
+
+      return response;
+    })
+    .catch((error) => {
+      if (error.name === "AbortError") {
+        throw new Error("fetch response timed out");
+      }
+
+      throw new Error(error.message);
+    });
+};
+
 export const createFetch = ({
   name,
   options: { headers: defaultBaseHeaders = {}, ...defaultOptions } = {},
diff --git a/src/core/server/services/perspective/perspective.ts b/src/core/server/services/perspective/perspective.ts
index 7c0eb6e17..42599543b 100644
--- a/src/core/server/services/perspective/perspective.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/services/perspective/perspective.ts
@@ -4,9 +4,7 @@ import { URL } from "url";
 import { TOXICITY_ENDPOINT_DEFAULT } from "coral-common/constants";
 import { LanguageCode } from "coral-common/helpers";
 import { getURLWithCommentID } from "coral-server/models/story";
-import { createFetch } from "coral-server/services/fetch";
-
-const fetch = createFetch({ name: "perspective" });
+import { fetchWithTimeout } from "coral-server/services/fetch";
 
 /**
  * Language is the language key that is supported by the Perspective API in the
@@ -137,14 +135,18 @@ export async function sendToPerspective(
 
   try {
     // Create the request and send it.
-    const res = await fetch(url.toString(), {
-      method: "POST",
-      headers: {
-        "Content-Type": "application/json",
+    const res = await fetchWithTimeout(
+      "perspective",
+      url.toString(),
+      {
+        method: "POST",
+        headers: {
+          "Content-Type": "application/json",
+        },
+        body,
       },
-      timeout,
-      body,
-    });
+      timeout
+    );
     if (!res.ok) {
       return {
         ok: res.ok,