diff --git a/etc/spdk/iscsi.conf.in b/etc/spdk/iscsi.conf.in
index 8f705ba8ee..93aaa1ea54 100644
--- a/etc/spdk/iscsi.conf.in
+++ b/etc/spdk/iscsi.conf.in
@@ -100,10 +100,13 @@
   # The number of attempts per I/O when an I/O fails. Do not include
   # this key to get the default behavior.
   NvmeRetryCount 4
-  # Registers the application to receive timeout callback and to reset the controller.
-  ResetControllerOnTimeout Yes
-  # Timeout value.
-  NvmeTimeoutValue 30
+  # Timeout for each command, in seconds. If 0, don't track timeouts.
+  NvmeTimeoutValue 0
+  # Action to take on command time out. Only valid when Timeout is greater
+  # than 0. This may be 'Reset' to reset the controller, 'Abort' to abort
+  # the command, or 'None' to just print a message but do nothing.
+  # Admin command timeouts will always result in a reset.
+  ActionOnTimeout None
   # Set how often the admin queue is polled for asynchronous events.
   # Units in microseconds.
   AdminPollRate 100000
diff --git a/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in b/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in
index 4c998af34c..1bc527f3d5 100644
--- a/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in
+++ b/etc/spdk/nvmf.conf.in
@@ -91,10 +91,13 @@
   # The number of attempts per I/O when an I/O fails. Do not include
   # this key to get the default behavior.
   NvmeRetryCount 4
-  # Registers the application to receive timeout callback and to reset the controller.
-  ResetControllerOnTimeout Yes
-  # Timeout value.
-  NvmeTimeoutValue 30
+  # Timeout for each command, in seconds. If 0, don't track timeouts.
+  NvmeTimeoutValue 0
+  # Action to take on command time out. Only valid when Timeout is greater
+  # than 0. This may be 'Reset' to reset the controller, 'Abort' to abort
+  # the command, or 'None' to just print a message but do nothing.
+  # Admin command timeouts will always result in a reset.
+  ActionOnTimeout None
   # Set how often the admin queue is polled for asynchronous events.
   # Units in microseconds.
   AdminPollRate 100000
diff --git a/etc/spdk/vhost.conf.in b/etc/spdk/vhost.conf.in
index cb56e6635c..bf7838069b 100644
--- a/etc/spdk/vhost.conf.in
+++ b/etc/spdk/vhost.conf.in
@@ -79,13 +79,13 @@
   # The number of attempts per I/O when an I/O fails. Do not include
   # this key to get the default behavior.
   NvmeRetryCount 4
-  # The maximum number of NVMe controllers to claim. Do not include this key to
-  # claim all of them.
-  NumControllers 2
-  # Registers the application to receive timeout callback and to reset the controller.
-  ResetControllerOnTimeout Yes
-  # Timeout value.
-  NvmeTimeoutValue 30
+  # Timeout for each command, in seconds. If 0, don't track timeouts.
+  NvmeTimeoutValue 0
+  # Action to take on command time out. Only valid when Timeout is greater
+  # than 0. This may be 'Reset' to reset the controller, 'Abort' to abort
+  # the command, or 'None' to just print a message but do nothing.
+  # Admin command timeouts will always result in a reset.
+  ActionOnTimeout None
   # Set how often the admin queue is polled for asynchronous events.
   # Units in microseconds.
   AdminPollRate 100000
diff --git a/lib/bdev/nvme/blockdev_nvme.c b/lib/bdev/nvme/blockdev_nvme.c
index 17b431fc57..0dd8410324 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/nvme/blockdev_nvme.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/nvme/blockdev_nvme.c
@@ -111,8 +111,14 @@ struct nvme_probe_ctx {
 	const char *names[NVME_MAX_CONTROLLERS];
 };
 
+enum timeout_action {
+	TIMEOUT_ACTION_NONE = 0,
+	TIMEOUT_ACTION_RESET,
+	TIMEOUT_ACTION_ABORT,
+};
+
 static int g_hot_insert_nvme_controller_index = 0;
-static bool g_reset_controller_on_timeout = false;
+static enum timeout_action g_action_on_timeout = TIMEOUT_ACTION_NONE;
 static int g_timeout = 0;
 static int g_nvme_adminq_poll_timeout_us = 0;
 static bool g_nvme_hotplug_enabled;
@@ -559,6 +565,21 @@ probe_cb(void *cb_ctx, const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid,
 	return true;
 }
 
+static void
+spdk_nvme_abort_cpl(void *ctx, const struct spdk_nvme_cpl *cpl)
+{
+	struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr = ctx;
+	int rc;
+
+	if (spdk_nvme_cpl_is_error(cpl)) {
+		SPDK_WARNLOG("Abort failed. Resetting controller.\n");
+		rc = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_reset(ctrlr);
+		if (rc) {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Resetting controller failed.\n");
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 static void
 timeout_cb(void *cb_arg, struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
 	   struct spdk_nvme_qpair *qpair, uint16_t cid)
@@ -567,9 +588,27 @@ timeout_cb(void *cb_arg, struct spdk_nvme_ctrlr *ctrlr,
 
 	SPDK_WARNLOG("Warning: Detected a timeout. ctrlr=%p qpair=%p cid=%u\n", ctrlr, qpair, cid);
 
-	rc = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_reset(ctrlr);
-	if (rc) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("resetting controller failed\n");
+	switch (g_action_on_timeout) {
+	case TIMEOUT_ACTION_ABORT:
+		if (qpair) {
+			rc = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_cmd_abort(ctrlr, qpair, cid,
+						       spdk_nvme_abort_cpl, ctrlr);
+			if (rc == 0) {
+				return;
+			}
+
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to send abort. Resetting.\n");
+		}
+
+	/* Fallthrough */
+	case TIMEOUT_ACTION_RESET:
+		rc = spdk_nvme_ctrlr_reset(ctrlr);
+		if (rc) {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Resetting controller failed.\n");
+		}
+		break;
+	case TIMEOUT_ACTION_NONE:
+		break;
 	}
 }
 
@@ -621,7 +660,7 @@ attach_cb(void *cb_ctx, const struct spdk_nvme_transport_id *trid,
 				sizeof(struct nvme_io_channel));
 	TAILQ_INSERT_TAIL(&g_nvme_ctrlrs, nvme_ctrlr, tailq);
 
-	if (g_reset_controller_on_timeout) {
+	if (g_action_on_timeout != TIMEOUT_ACTION_NONE) {
 		spdk_nvme_ctrlr_register_timeout_callback(ctrlr, g_timeout,
 				timeout_cb, NULL);
 	}
@@ -763,13 +802,32 @@ bdev_nvme_library_init(void)
 		probe_ctx.count++;
 	}
 
-	g_reset_controller_on_timeout =
-		spdk_conf_section_get_boolval(sp, "ResetControllerOnTimeout", false);
-
 	if ((g_timeout = spdk_conf_section_get_intval(sp, "NvmeTimeoutValue")) < 0) {
 		g_timeout = 0;
 	}
 
+	if (g_timeout > 0) {
+		val = spdk_conf_section_get_val(sp, "ActionOnTimeout");
+		if (val != NULL) {
+			if (!strcasecmp(val, "Reset")) {
+				g_action_on_timeout = TIMEOUT_ACTION_RESET;
+			} else if (!strcasecmp(val, "Abort")) {
+				g_action_on_timeout = TIMEOUT_ACTION_ABORT;
+			}
+		} else {
+			/* Handle old name for backward compatibility */
+			val = spdk_conf_section_get_val(sp, "ResetControllerOnTimeout");
+			if (val) {
+				SPDK_WARNLOG("ResetControllerOnTimeout was renamed to ActionOnTimeout\n");
+				SPDK_WARNLOG("Please update your configuration file\n");
+
+				if (spdk_conf_section_get_boolval(sp, "ResetControllerOnTimeout", false)) {
+					g_action_on_timeout = TIMEOUT_ACTION_RESET;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	g_nvme_adminq_poll_timeout_us = spdk_conf_section_get_intval(sp, "AdminPollRate");
 	if (g_nvme_adminq_poll_timeout_us <= 0) {
 		g_nvme_adminq_poll_timeout_us = 1000000;