diff --git a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
index b7393fd798..b68b110a46 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
@@ -971,7 +971,9 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
         write_string(u'[debug] Proxy map: ' + compat_str(proxy_map) + u'\n')
 
     def _setup_opener(self):
-        timeout = float(self.params.get('socket_timeout', 600))
+        timeout_val = self.params.get('socket_timeout')
+        timeout = 600 if timeout_val is None else float(timeout_val)
+
         opts_cookiefile = self.params.get('cookiefile')
         opts_proxy = self.params.get('proxy')
 
diff --git a/youtube_dl/__init__.py b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
index 92e583744d..799eca566f 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
@@ -198,6 +198,9 @@ def parseOpts(overrideArguments=None):
     general.add_option(
         '--no-cache-dir', action='store_const', const=None, dest='cachedir',
         help='Disable filesystem caching')
+    general.add_option(
+        '--socket-timeout', dest='socket_timeout',
+        type=float, default=None, help=optparse.SUPPRESS_HELP)
 
 
     selection.add_option('--playlist-start',
@@ -652,6 +655,7 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
         'cookiefile': opts.cookiefile,
         'nocheckcertificate': opts.no_check_certificate,
         'proxy': opts.proxy,
+        'socket_timeout': opts.socket_timeout,
     }
 
     with YoutubeDL(ydl_opts) as ydl: