diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e7d8143e..55d8f253 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ### Changed
 - Relicense core to FSL-1.1-ALv2. [#388](https://github.com/sourcebot-dev/sourcebot/pull/388)
 
+### Added
+- Added `GITLAB_CLIENT_QUERY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS` env var to configure the GitLab client's query timeout. [#390](https://github.com/sourcebot-dev/sourcebot/pull/390)
+
 ## [4.5.2] - 2025-07-19
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/docs/docs/configuration/environment-variables.mdx b/docs/docs/configuration/environment-variables.mdx
index e8fe8cf0..d6aab9eb 100644
--- a/docs/docs/configuration/environment-variables.mdx
+++ b/docs/docs/configuration/environment-variables.mdx
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ The following environment variables allow you to configure your Sourcebot deploy
 | `REDIS_REMOVE_ON_COMPLETE` | `0` | <p>Controls how many completed jobs are allowed to remain in Redis queues</p> |
 | `REDIS_REMOVE_ON_FAIL` | `100` | <p>Controls how many failed jobs are allowed to remain in Redis queues</p> |
 | `REPO_SYNC_RETRY_BASE_SLEEP_SECONDS` | `60` | <p>The base sleep duration (in seconds) for exponential backoff when retrying repository sync operations that fail</p> |
+| `GITLAB_CLIENT_QUERY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS` | `600` | <p>The timeout duration (in seconds) for GitLab client queries</p> |
 | `SHARD_MAX_MATCH_COUNT` | `10000` | <p>The maximum shard count per query</p> |
 | `SMTP_CONNECTION_URL` | `-` | <p>The url to the SMTP service used for sending transactional emails. See [this doc](/docs/configuration/transactional-emails) for more info.</p> |
 | `SOURCEBOT_ENCRYPTION_KEY` | Automatically generated at startup if no value is provided. Generated using `openssl rand -base64 24` | <p>Used to encrypt connection secrets and generate API keys.</p> |
diff --git a/docs/docs/connections/gitlab.mdx b/docs/docs/connections/gitlab.mdx
index d0131e50..2677a67a 100644
--- a/docs/docs/connections/gitlab.mdx
+++ b/docs/docs/connections/gitlab.mdx
@@ -175,6 +175,10 @@ To connect to a GitLab host other than `gitlab.com`, provide the `url` property
 }
 ```
 
+## Troubleshooting
+
+- If you're seeing errors like `GitbeakerTimeoutError: Query timeout was reached` when syncing a large number of projects, you can increase the client's timeout by setting the `GITLAB_CLIENT_QUERY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS` environment variable. [#162](https://github.com/sourcebot-dev/sourcebot/issues/162)
+
 ## Schema reference
 
 <Accordion title="Reference">
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/env.ts b/packages/backend/src/env.ts
index 6a97db21..735361a8 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/env.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/env.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ export const env = createEnv({
 
         CONNECTION_MANAGER_UPSERT_TIMEOUT_MS: numberSchema.default(300000),
         REPO_SYNC_RETRY_BASE_SLEEP_SECONDS: numberSchema.default(60),
+
+        GITLAB_CLIENT_QUERY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS: numberSchema.default(60 * 10),
     },
     runtimeEnv: process.env,
     emptyStringAsUndefined: true,
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/gitlab.ts b/packages/backend/src/gitlab.ts
index f08b4218..79ab643b 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/gitlab.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/gitlab.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ export const getGitLabReposFromConfig = async (config: GitlabConnectionConfig, o
         ...(config.url ? {
             host: config.url,
         } : {}),
+        queryTimeout: env.GITLAB_CLIENT_QUERY_TIMEOUT_SECONDS * 1000,
     });
 
     let allRepos: ProjectSchema[] = [];