diff --git a/libp2p/muxers/mplex/mplex.nim b/libp2p/muxers/mplex/mplex.nim
index b2b610593..92ebaac8e 100644
--- a/libp2p/muxers/mplex/mplex.nim
+++ b/libp2p/muxers/mplex/mplex.nim
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ import ../muxer,
 logScope:
   topic = "Mplex"
 
+const HandleTimeout = 30.seconds
+
 type
   Mplex* = ref object of Muxer
     remote*: Table[uint, LPChannel]
@@ -69,7 +71,7 @@ method handle*(m: Mplex) {.async, gcsafe.} =
     while not m.connection.closed:
       trace "waiting for data"
       let
-        res = await one(m.connection.readMsg(), messageTimeout(MaxReadWriteTime))
+        res = await one(m.connection.readMsg(), messageTimeout(HandleTimeout))
         msg = res.read()
       if msg.isNone:
         trace "connection EOF"