diff --git a/packages/libsql-client/src/__tests__/client.test.ts b/packages/libsql-client/src/__tests__/client.test.ts
index b656642..a3cd436 100644
--- a/packages/libsql-client/src/__tests__/client.test.ts
+++ b/packages/libsql-client/src/__tests__/client.test.ts
@@ -1592,6 +1592,79 @@ describe("transaction()", () => {
     }
 });
 
+describe("timeout option (local files)", () => {
+    const dbPath = `/tmp/libsql-client-timeout-test-${process.pid}.db`;
+    const dbUrl = `file:${dbPath}`;
+
+    afterEach(async () => {
+        const fs = await import("node:fs");
+        for (const suffix of ["", "-wal", "-shm"]) {
+            fs.rmSync(dbPath + suffix, { force: true });
+        }
+    });
+
+    test("timeout sets busy_timeout on the connection", async () => {
+        const c = createClient({ url: dbUrl, timeout: 5000 });
+        try {
+            const rs = await c.execute("PRAGMA busy_timeout");
+            expect(rs.rows[0]["timeout"]).toStrictEqual(5000);
+        } finally {
+            c.close();
+        }
+    });
+
+    // see issue https://github.com/tursodatabase/libsql-client-ts/issues/288
+    test("timeout survives connections created after transaction()", async () => {
+        const c = createClient({ url: dbUrl, timeout: 5000 });
+        try {
+            const txn = await c.transaction("write");
+            await txn.execute("CREATE TABLE t (a)");
+            await txn.commit();
+
+            // transaction() hands the client's connection to the transaction
+            // and lazily opens a new one; the timeout must apply to it too.
+            const rs = await c.execute("PRAGMA busy_timeout");
+            expect(rs.rows[0]["timeout"]).toStrictEqual(5000);
+        } finally {
+            c.close();
+        }
+    });
+
+    test("locked database waits for timeout instead of failing immediately", async () => {
+        const setup = createClient({ url: dbUrl });
+        await setup.execute("CREATE TABLE t (a)");
+        setup.close();
+
+        const lockHolder = createClient({ url: dbUrl });
+        const withTimeout = createClient({ url: dbUrl, timeout: 500 });
+        const withoutTimeout = createClient({ url: dbUrl });
+        try {
+            const lock = await lockHolder.transaction("write");
+            await lock.execute("INSERT INTO t VALUES (1)");
+
+            // Without a timeout, a locked write fails immediately.
+            let start = Date.now();
+            await expect(
+                withoutTimeout.execute("INSERT INTO t VALUES (2)"),
+            ).rejects.toBeLibsqlError("SQLITE_BUSY");
+            expect(Date.now() - start).toBeLessThan(250);
+
+            // With a timeout, the busy handler waits before giving up.
+            start = Date.now();
+            await expect(
+                withTimeout.execute("INSERT INTO t VALUES (3)"),
+            ).rejects.toBeLibsqlError("SQLITE_BUSY");
+            expect(Date.now() - start).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(450);
+
+            await lock.rollback();
+        } finally {
+            lockHolder.close();
+            withTimeout.close();
+            withoutTimeout.close();
+        }
+    });
+});
+
 (isFile ? test : test.skip)("raw error codes", async () => {
     const c = createClient(config);
     try {
diff --git a/packages/libsql-client/src/__tests__/config.test.ts b/packages/libsql-client/src/__tests__/config.test.ts
index e617f73..30fd41f 100644
--- a/packages/libsql-client/src/__tests__/config.test.ts
+++ b/packages/libsql-client/src/__tests__/config.test.ts
@@ -197,6 +197,18 @@ describe("expandConfig - parsing of valid arguments", () => {
                 concurrency: 20,
             },
         },
+        {
+            name: "timeout",
+            config: { url: "file:local.db", timeout: 5000 },
+            expanded: {
+                scheme: "file",
+                tls: true,
+                intMode: "number",
+                path: "local.db",
+                concurrency: 20,
+                timeout: 5000,
+            },
+        },
         {
             name: "override auth token",
             config: {
diff --git a/packages/libsql-client/src/sqlite3.ts b/packages/libsql-client/src/sqlite3.ts
index b8a9ad8..e3dbc4e 100644
--- a/packages/libsql-client/src/sqlite3.ts
+++ b/packages/libsql-client/src/sqlite3.ts
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ export function _createClient(config: ExpandedConfig): Client {
         syncPeriod: config.syncInterval,
         readYourWrites: config.readYourWrites,
         offline: config.offline,
+        timeout: config.timeout,
     };
 
     const db = new Database(path, options);
diff --git a/packages/libsql-core/src/api.ts b/packages/libsql-core/src/api.ts
index 471eb22..c0f5c42 100644
--- a/packages/libsql-core/src/api.ts
+++ b/packages/libsql-core/src/api.ts
@@ -62,6 +62,17 @@ export interface Config {
      * number to increase the concurrency limit or set it to 0 to disable concurrency limits completely.
      */
     concurrency?: number | undefined;
+
+    /** Busy timeout in milliseconds for local `file:` databases.
+     *
+     * When another connection holds a lock on the database file, operations wait up to this many
+     * milliseconds before failing with `SQLITE_BUSY`. By default, operations fail immediately.
+     *
+     * This option is applied to every connection the client opens, including connections created
+     * internally after `transaction()`. It only takes effect for local SQLite databases; remote
+     * clients ignore it.
+     */
+    timeout?: number;
 }
 
 /** Representation of integers from database as JavaScript values. See {@link Config.intMode}. */
diff --git a/packages/libsql-core/src/config.ts b/packages/libsql-core/src/config.ts
index 31d259d..44dd7bf 100644
--- a/packages/libsql-core/src/config.ts
+++ b/packages/libsql-core/src/config.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export interface ExpandedConfig {
     intMode: IntMode;
     fetch: Function | undefined;
     concurrency: number;
+    timeout: number | undefined;
 }
 
 export type ExpandedScheme = "wss" | "ws" | "https" | "http" | "file";
@@ -180,6 +181,7 @@ export function expandConfig(
             readYourWrites: config.readYourWrites,
             offline: config.offline,
             fetch: config.fetch,
+            timeout: config.timeout,
             authToken: undefined,
             encryptionKey: undefined,
             remoteEncryptionKey: undefined,
@@ -202,5 +204,6 @@ export function expandConfig(
         readYourWrites: config.readYourWrites,
         offline: config.offline,
         fetch: config.fetch,
+        timeout: config.timeout,
     };
 }