diff --git a/codex-rs/codex-api/src/endpoint/responses_websocket.rs b/codex-rs/codex-api/src/endpoint/responses_websocket.rs
index 4e97ecef9d..dd947a9dd7 100644
--- a/codex-rs/codex-api/src/endpoint/responses_websocket.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/codex-api/src/endpoint/responses_websocket.rs
@@ -556,10 +556,15 @@ async fn run_websocket_response_stream(
     trace!("websocket request: {request_text}");
 
     let request_start = Instant::now();
-    let result = ws_stream
-        .send(Message::Text(request_text.into()))
-        .await
-        .map_err(|err| ApiError::Stream(format!("failed to send websocket request: {err}")));
+    let result = tokio::time::timeout(
+        idle_timeout,
+        ws_stream.send(Message::Text(request_text.into())),
+    )
+    .await
+    .map_err(|_| ApiError::Stream("idle timeout sending websocket request".into()))
+    .and_then(|result| {
+        result.map_err(|err| ApiError::Stream(format!("failed to send websocket request: {err}")))
+    });
 
     if let Some(t) = telemetry.as_ref() {
         t.on_ws_request(