diff --git a/ChangeLog.d/dtls_sample_use_read_timeout.txt b/ChangeLog.d/dtls_sample_use_read_timeout.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e3150d6efb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ChangeLog.d/dtls_sample_use_read_timeout.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Changes
+   * Fix the setting of the read timeout in the DTLS sample programs.
diff --git a/programs/ssl/dtls_client.c b/programs/ssl/dtls_client.c
index 03a06ff0ac..8c302a0a55 100644
--- a/programs/ssl/dtls_client.c
+++ b/programs/ssl/dtls_client.c
@@ -191,6 +191,7 @@ int main( int argc, char *argv[] )
     mbedtls_ssl_conf_ca_chain( &conf, &cacert, NULL );
     mbedtls_ssl_conf_rng( &conf, mbedtls_ctr_drbg_random, &ctr_drbg );
     mbedtls_ssl_conf_dbg( &conf, my_debug, stdout );
+    mbedtls_ssl_conf_read_timeout( &conf, READ_TIMEOUT_MS );
 
     if( ( ret = mbedtls_ssl_setup( &ssl, &conf ) ) != 0 )
     {
diff --git a/programs/ssl/dtls_server.c b/programs/ssl/dtls_server.c
index 22e3fc5db0..958b0b521e 100644
--- a/programs/ssl/dtls_server.c
+++ b/programs/ssl/dtls_server.c
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ int main( void )
 
     mbedtls_ssl_conf_rng( &conf, mbedtls_ctr_drbg_random, &ctr_drbg );
     mbedtls_ssl_conf_dbg( &conf, my_debug, stdout );
+    mbedtls_ssl_conf_read_timeout( &conf, READ_TIMEOUT_MS );
 
 #if defined(MBEDTLS_SSL_CACHE_C)
     mbedtls_ssl_conf_session_cache( &conf, &cache,