diff --git a/config/discourse_defaults.conf b/config/discourse_defaults.conf
index 2ae1e1e5c0c..722ee5228a6 100644
--- a/config/discourse_defaults.conf
+++ b/config/discourse_defaults.conf
@@ -371,3 +371,6 @@ pg_force_readonly_mode = false
 
 # default DNS query timeout for FinalDestination (used when not explicitely given programmatically)
 dns_query_timeout_secs =
+
+# Default global regex timeout
+regex_timeout_seconds = 
diff --git a/config/initializers/100-regex-timeout.rb b/config/initializers/100-regex-timeout.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9a9ffe0b4e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/100-regex-timeout.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+Regexp.timeout =
+  GlobalSetting.regex_timeout_seconds.to_i if GlobalSetting.regex_timeout_seconds.present?