diff --git a/.changeset/gold-impalas-think.md b/.changeset/gold-impalas-think.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5fb2ec8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/gold-impalas-think.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'fetch-nodeshim': patch
+---
+
+Issue an explicit `ETIMEDOUT` when the request times out
diff --git a/src/fetch.ts b/src/fetch.ts
index 2825bbd..338b506 100644
--- a/src/fetch.ts
+++ b/src/fetch.ts
@@ -160,6 +160,14 @@ async function _fetch(
 
     signal?.addEventListener('abort', destroy);
 
+    outgoing.on('timeout', () => {
+      if (!incoming) {
+        const error = new Error('Request timed out') as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
+        error.code = 'ETIMEDOUT';
+        destroy(error);
+      }
+    });
+
     outgoing.on('response', _incoming => {
       if (signal?.aborted) {
         return;