diff --git a/cmd/backup.go b/cmd/backup.go
index 8166d7bd2..277f6c282 100644
--- a/cmd/backup.go
+++ b/cmd/backup.go
@@ -32,5 +32,6 @@ Backs up a FeatureBase server to a local, tar-formatted snapshot file.
 	flags.StringVar(&cmd.Pprof, "pprof", cmd.Pprof, "host:port to listen for profiling requests at /debug/pprof and /debug/fgprof.")
 	ctl.SetTLSConfig(flags, "", &cmd.TLS.CertificatePath, &cmd.TLS.CertificateKeyPath, &cmd.TLS.CACertPath, &cmd.TLS.SkipVerify, &cmd.TLS.EnableClientVerification)
 	flags.StringVar(&cmd.AuthToken, "auth-token", "", "Authentication token")
+	flags.StringVar(&cmd.HeaderTimeoutStr, "header-timeout", cmd.HeaderTimeoutStr, "Length of time to wait for initial HTTP response before giving up.")
 	return ccmd
 }
diff --git a/ctl/backup.go b/ctl/backup.go
index aed077a37..6327ea012 100644
--- a/ctl/backup.go
+++ b/ctl/backup.go
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ type BackupCommand struct { // nolint: maligned
 	RetryPeriod time.Duration `json:"retry-period"`
 
 	// Response Header Timeout for HTTP Requests
-	HeaderTimeout time.Duration `json:"header-timeout"`
+	HeaderTimeoutStr string
+	HeaderTimeout    time.Duration `json:"header-timeout"`
 
 	// Host:port on which to listen for pprof.
 	Pprof string `json:"pprof"`
@@ -85,6 +86,13 @@ func (cmd *BackupCommand) Run(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 	} else if cmd.Concurrency <= 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("concurrency must be at least one")
 	}
+	if cmd.HeaderTimeoutStr != "" {
+		if dur, err := time.ParseDuration(cmd.HeaderTimeoutStr); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("could not parse '%s' as a duration: %v", cmd.HeaderTimeoutStr, err)
+		} else {
+			cmd.HeaderTimeout = dur
+		}
+	}
 
 	// Parse TLS configuration for node-specific clients.
 	tls := cmd.TLSConfiguration()
diff --git a/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go b/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go
index 6f47f799c..5c69299ff 100644
--- a/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go
+++ b/internal/clustertests/cluster_test.go
@@ -173,10 +173,13 @@ func TestClusterStuff(t *testing.T) {
 		var backupCmd *exec.Cmd
 		tmpdir := t.TempDir()
 
-		// collect code coverage while doing backup using an instrumented binary by calling
-		// a wrapper test (TestRunMain) for the main entrypoint of featurebase
+		// Collect code coverage while doing backup using an
+		// instrumented binary by calling a wrapper test (TestRunMain)
+		// for the main entrypoint of featurebase.  Note, we pass the
+		// "--header-timeout" option simply to ensure that it is
+		// accepted and properly parsed by the command.
 		args := []string{"-test.run=TestRunMain", "-test.coverprofile=/results/coverage-backup.out", "backup",
-			"--host=pilosa1:10101", fmt.Sprintf("--output=%s", tmpdir+"/backuptest")}
+			"--host=pilosa1:10101", fmt.Sprintf("--output=%s", tmpdir+"/backuptest"), "--header-timeout=3s"}
 		if auth {
 			args = append(args, fmt.Sprintf("--auth-token=%s", token))
 		}