diff --git a/src/gui/application.cpp b/src/gui/application.cpp
index 934e23ecb11..ceaf30a83d0 100644
--- a/src/gui/application.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/application.cpp
@@ -148,6 +148,10 @@ Application::Application(int &argc, char **argv)
     excludes.addExcludeFilePath(cfg.excludeFile(ConfigFile::UserScope));
     excludes.reloadExcludes();
 
+    // The timeout is initialized with an environment variable, if not, override with the value from the config
+    if (!AbstractNetworkJob::httpTimeout)
+        AbstractNetworkJob::httpTimeout = cfg.timeout();
+
     _folderManager.reset(new FolderMan);
 
     connect(this, &SharedTools::QtSingleApplication::messageReceived, this, &Application::slotParseMessage);
diff --git a/src/libsync/abstractnetworkjob.cpp b/src/libsync/abstractnetworkjob.cpp
index 78d5b9ab6b9..0149bec4252 100644
--- a/src/libsync/abstractnetworkjob.cpp
+++ b/src/libsync/abstractnetworkjob.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ namespace OCC {
 
 Q_LOGGING_CATEGORY(lcNetworkJob, "sync.networkjob", QtInfoMsg)
 
+// If not set, it is overwritten by the Application constructor with the value from the config
+int AbstractNetworkJob::httpTimeout = qEnvironmentVariableIntValue("OWNCLOUD_TIMEOUT");
+
 AbstractNetworkJob::AbstractNetworkJob(AccountPtr account, const QString &path, QObject *parent)
     : QObject(parent)
     , _timedout(false)
@@ -51,7 +54,7 @@ AbstractNetworkJob::AbstractNetworkJob(AccountPtr account, const QString &path,
     , _redirectCount(0)
 {
     _timer.setSingleShot(true);
-    _timer.setInterval(OwncloudPropagator::httpTimeout() * 1000); // default to 5 minutes.
+    _timer.setInterval((httpTimeout ? httpTimeout : 300) * 1000); // default to 5 minutes.
     connect(&_timer, &QTimer::timeout, this, &AbstractNetworkJob::slotTimeout);
 
     connect(this, &AbstractNetworkJob::networkActivity, this, &AbstractNetworkJob::resetTimeout);
diff --git a/src/libsync/abstractnetworkjob.h b/src/libsync/abstractnetworkjob.h
index ec9a31addcc..5a650c07a57 100644
--- a/src/libsync/abstractnetworkjob.h
+++ b/src/libsync/abstractnetworkjob.h
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@ class OWNCLOUDSYNC_EXPORT AbstractNetworkJob : public QObject
      */
     QString errorStringParsingBody(QByteArray *body = 0);
 
+    /** static variable the HTTP timeout (in seconds)  */
+    static int httpTimeout;
+
 public slots:
     void setTimeout(qint64 msec);
     void resetTimeout();
diff --git a/src/libsync/owncloudpropagator.cpp b/src/libsync/owncloudpropagator.cpp
index d90ae8af77e..e1d081141aa 100644
--- a/src/libsync/owncloudpropagator.cpp
+++ b/src/libsync/owncloudpropagator.cpp
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 #include "propagateremotemove.h"
 #include "propagateremotemkdir.h"
 #include "propagatorjobs.h"
-#include "configfile.h"
 #include "common/utility.h"
 #include "account.h"
 #include "common/asserts.h"
@@ -554,19 +553,6 @@ bool OwncloudPropagator::isInSharedDirectory(const QString &file)
     return re;
 }
 
-int OwncloudPropagator::httpTimeout()
-{
-    static int timeout = 0;
-    if (!timeout) {
-        timeout = qgetenv("OWNCLOUD_TIMEOUT").toUInt();
-        if (timeout == 0) {
-            ConfigFile cfg;
-            timeout = cfg.timeout();
-        }
-    }
-    return timeout;
-}
-
 bool OwncloudPropagator::localFileNameClash(const QString &relFile)
 {
     bool re = false;
diff --git a/src/libsync/owncloudpropagator.h b/src/libsync/owncloudpropagator.h
index efc7c01dda2..062b3825e5c 100644
--- a/src/libsync/owncloudpropagator.h
+++ b/src/libsync/owncloudpropagator.h
@@ -464,9 +464,6 @@ class OwncloudPropagator : public QObject
         }
     }
 
-    // timeout in seconds
-    static int httpTimeout();
-
     AccountPtr account() const;
 
     enum DiskSpaceResult {