diff --git a/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/ops/PulsarConsumerMapper.java b/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/ops/PulsarConsumerMapper.java
index c1ff0332d..ffccca6b5 100644
--- a/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/ops/PulsarConsumerMapper.java
+++ b/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/ops/PulsarConsumerMapper.java
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ public class PulsarConsumerMapper extends PulsarOpMapper {
         return new PulsarConsumerOp(
             consumer,
             clientSpace.getPulsarSchema(),
-            asyncApi
+            asyncApi,
+            clientSpace.getPulsarClientConf().getConsumerTimeoutSeconds()
         );
     }
 }
diff --git a/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/ops/PulsarConsumerOp.java b/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/ops/PulsarConsumerOp.java
index d3606a059..85c906944 100644
--- a/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/ops/PulsarConsumerOp.java
+++ b/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/ops/PulsarConsumerOp.java
@@ -2,37 +2,61 @@ package io.nosqlbench.driver.pulsar.ops;
 
 import io.nosqlbench.driver.pulsar.util.AvroUtil;
 import io.nosqlbench.driver.pulsar.util.PulsarActivityUtil;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.apache.pulsar.client.api.*;
 import org.apache.pulsar.common.schema.SchemaType;
 
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
 public class PulsarConsumerOp implements PulsarOp {
+
+    private final static Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(PulsarConsumerOp.class);
+
     private final Consumer<?> consumer;
     private final Schema<?> pulsarSchema;
     private final boolean asyncPulsarOp;
+    private final int timeoutSeconds;
 
-    public PulsarConsumerOp(Consumer<?> consumer, Schema<?> schema, boolean asyncPulsarOp) {
+    public PulsarConsumerOp(Consumer<?> consumer, Schema<?> schema, boolean asyncPulsarOp, int timeoutSeconds) {
         this.consumer = consumer;
         this.pulsarSchema = schema;
         this.asyncPulsarOp = asyncPulsarOp;
+        this.timeoutSeconds = timeoutSeconds;
     }
 
     public void syncConsume() {
         try {
-            Message<?> message = consumer.receive();
+            Message<?> message;
+            if (timeoutSeconds <= 0) {
+                // wait forever
+                message = consumer.receive();
+            } else {
+                // we cannot use Consumer#receive(timeout, timeunit) due to
+                // https://github.com/apache/pulsar/issues/9921
+                message = consumer
+                    .receiveAsync()
+                    .get(timeoutSeconds, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+            }
 
             SchemaType schemaType = pulsarSchema.getSchemaInfo().getType();
             if (PulsarActivityUtil.isAvroSchemaTypeStr(schemaType.name())) {
-                String avroDefStr = pulsarSchema.getSchemaInfo().getSchemaDefinition();
-                org.apache.avro.generic.GenericRecord avroGenericRecord =
-                    AvroUtil.GetGenericRecord_ApacheAvro(avroDefStr, message.getData());
+                if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
+                    String avroDefStr = pulsarSchema.getSchemaInfo().getSchemaDefinition();
+                    org.apache.avro.generic.GenericRecord avroGenericRecord =
+                        AvroUtil.GetGenericRecord_ApacheAvro(avroDefStr, message.getData());
 
-                System.out.println("msg-key=" + message.getKey() + "  msg-payload=" + avroGenericRecord.toString());
+                    logger.debug("msg-key={}  msg-payload={}", message.getKey(), avroGenericRecord.toString());
+                }
             } else {
-                System.out.println("msg-key=" + message.getKey() + "  msg-payload=" + new String(message.getData()));
+                if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
+                    logger.debug("msg-key={}  msg-payload={}", message.getKey(), new String(message.getData()));
+                }
             }
 
             consumer.acknowledge(message.getMessageId());
-        } catch (PulsarClientException e) {
+        } catch (Exception e) {
             throw new RuntimeException(e);
         }
     }
diff --git a/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/util/PulsarNBClientConf.java b/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/util/PulsarNBClientConf.java
index 5b5814759..2c42b054c 100644
--- a/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/util/PulsarNBClientConf.java
+++ b/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/util/PulsarNBClientConf.java
@@ -228,6 +228,13 @@ public class PulsarNBClientConf {
         else
             return confValue.toString();
     }
+    public int getConsumerTimeoutSeconds() {
+        Object confValue = getConsumerConfValue("consumer.timeout");
+        if (confValue == null)
+            return -1; // infinite
+        else
+            return Integer.parseInt(confValue.toString());
+    }
     public String getConsumerSubscriptionName() {
         Object confValue = getConsumerConfValue("consumer.subscriptionName");
         if (confValue == null)