diff --git a/intercom/client.py b/intercom/client.py
index ce37617b..e695551e 100644
--- a/intercom/client.py
+++ b/intercom/client.py
@@ -5,11 +5,12 @@
 
 class Client(object):
 
-    def __init__(self, personal_access_token='my_personal_access_token'):
+    def __init__(self, personal_access_token='my_personal_access_token', timeout=90):
         self.personal_access_token = personal_access_token
         self.base_url = 'https://api.intercom.io'
         self.rate_limit_details = {}
         self.http_session = requests.Session()
+        self.timeout = timeout
 
     @property
     def _auth(self):
@@ -87,20 +88,20 @@ def _execute_request(self, request, params):
 
     def get(self, path, params):
         from intercom import request
-        req = request.Request('GET', path, self.http_session)
+        req = request.Request('GET', path, self.http_session, timeout=self.timeout)
         return self._execute_request(req, params)
 
     def post(self, path, params):
         from intercom import request
-        req = request.Request('POST', path, self.http_session)
+        req = request.Request('POST', path, self.http_session, timeout=self.timeout)
         return self._execute_request(req, params)
 
     def put(self, path, params):
         from intercom import request
-        req = request.Request('PUT', path, self.http_session)
+        req = request.Request('PUT', path, self.http_session, timeout=self.timeout)
         return self._execute_request(req, params)
 
     def delete(self, path, params):
         from intercom import request
-        req = request.Request('DELETE', path, self.http_session)
+        req = request.Request('DELETE', path, self.http_session, timeout=self.timeout)
         return self._execute_request(req, params)
diff --git a/intercom/request.py b/intercom/request.py
index 820f8599..59f6dc25 100644
--- a/intercom/request.py
+++ b/intercom/request.py
@@ -13,24 +13,13 @@
 logger = logging.getLogger('intercom.request')
 
 
-def configure_timeout():
-    """Configure the request timeout."""
-    timeout = os.getenv('INTERCOM_REQUEST_TIMEOUT', '90')
-    try:
-        return int(timeout)
-    except ValueError:
-        logger.warning('%s is not a valid timeout value.', timeout)
-    return 90
-
-
 class Request(object):
 
-    timeout = configure_timeout()
-
-    def __init__(self, http_method, path, http_session=None):
+    def __init__(self, http_method, path, http_session=None, timeout=90):
         self.http_method = http_method
         self.path = path
         self.http_session = http_session
+        self.timeout = timeout
 
     def execute(self, base_url, auth, params):
         return self.send_request_to_path(base_url, auth, params)
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_request.py b/tests/unit/test_request.py
index fdfa7794..89789153 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_request.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_request.py
@@ -332,25 +332,7 @@ def it_needs_encoding_or_apparent_encoding(self):
     @istest
     def it_allows_the_timeout_to_be_changed(self):
         from intercom.request import Request
-        try:
-            eq_(90, Request.timeout)
-            Request.timeout = 3
-            eq_(3, Request.timeout)
-        finally:
-            Request.timeout = 90
-
-    @istest
-    def it_allows_the_timeout_to_be_configured(self):
-        import os
-        from intercom.request import configure_timeout
-
-        # check the default
-        eq_(90, configure_timeout())
-
-        # override the default
-        os.environ['INTERCOM_REQUEST_TIMEOUT'] = '20'
-        eq_(20, configure_timeout())
-
-        # ignore bad timeouts, reset to default 90
-        os.environ['INTERCOM_REQUEST_TIMEOUT'] = 'abc'
-        eq_(90, configure_timeout())
+        request = Request('GET', '/')
+        eq_(90, request.timeout)
+        request = Request('GET', '/', timeout=3)
+        eq_(3, request.timeout)