diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpTransportSettings.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpTransportSettings.java
index cf9bd3a42ee13..315fa5b038bfd 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpTransportSettings.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpTransportSettings.java
@@ -95,8 +95,9 @@ public final class HttpTransportSettings {
     public static final Setting<Boolean> SETTING_HTTP_RESET_COOKIES =
         Setting.boolSetting("http.reset_cookies", false, Property.NodeScope);
 
+    // A default of 0 means that by default there is no read timeout
     public static final Setting<TimeValue> SETTING_HTTP_READ_TIMEOUT =
-        Setting.timeSetting("http.read_timeout", new TimeValue(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS), new TimeValue(0), Property.NodeScope);
+        Setting.timeSetting("http.read_timeout", new TimeValue(0), new TimeValue(0), Property.NodeScope);
 
     public static final Setting<Boolean> SETTING_HTTP_TCP_NO_DELAY =
         boolSetting("http.tcp_no_delay", NetworkService.TCP_NO_DELAY, Setting.Property.NodeScope);