diff --git a/mqttwarn/context.py b/mqttwarn/context.py
index cfed68e1..33679906 100644
--- a/mqttwarn/context.py
+++ b/mqttwarn/context.py
@@ -51,6 +51,18 @@ def get_qos(self, section: str) -> int:
             qos = int(self.config.get(section, "qos"))
         return qos
 
+    def get_timeout(self, section: str) -> int:
+        timeout = -1
+        if self.config.has_option(section, "timeout"):
+            timeout = int(self.config.get(section, "timeout"))
+        return timeout
+
+    def get_notify_only_on_timeout(self, section: str) -> int:
+        notify_only_on_timeout = False
+        if self.config.has_option(section, "notify_only_on_timeout"):
+            notify_only_on_timeout = bool(self.config.get(section, "notify_only_on_timeout"))
+        return notify_only_on_timeout
+
     def get_config(self, section: str, name: str) -> t.Any:
         value = None
         if self.config.has_option(section, name):
diff --git a/mqttwarn/core.py b/mqttwarn/core.py
index ccca83d2..7b822366 100644
--- a/mqttwarn/core.py
+++ b/mqttwarn/core.py
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
     timeout,
     truncate,
 )
+from mqttwarn.topic import TopicTimeout
 
 try:
     import json
@@ -76,6 +77,9 @@
 # Instances of PeriodicThread objects
 ptlist: t.Dict[str, PeriodicThread] = {}
 
+# Instances of TopicTimeout objects
+topic_timeout_list: t.Dict[str, TopicTimeout] = {}
+
 # Instances of loaded service plugins
 service_plugins: t.Dict[str, t.Dict[str, t.Any]] = dict()
 
@@ -131,6 +135,8 @@ def on_connect(mosq: MqttClient, userdata: t.Dict[str, str], flags: t.Dict[str,
         for section in context.get_sections():
             topic = context.get_topic(section)
             qos = context.get_qos(section)
+            topic_timeout = context.get_timeout(section)
+            notify_only_on_timeout = context.get_notify_only_on_timeout(section)
 
             if topic in subscribed:
                 continue
@@ -138,6 +144,12 @@ def on_connect(mosq: MqttClient, userdata: t.Dict[str, str], flags: t.Dict[str,
             logger.debug("Subscribing to %s (qos=%d)" % (topic, qos))
             mqttc.subscribe(topic, qos)
             subscribed.append(topic)
+            if topic_timeout > 0:
+                logger.debug("Setting up timeout thread for %s (timeout=%d)" % (topic, topic_timeout))
+                topic_timeout_list[topic] = TopicTimeout(timeout=topic_timeout, topic=topic, section=section,
+                                                         notify_only_on_timeout=notify_only_on_timeout,
+                                                         on_timeout=send_to_targets)
+                topic_timeout_list[topic].start()
 
         if cf.lwt is not None:
             mqttc.publish(cf.lwt, cf.lwt_alive, qos=0, retain=True)
@@ -160,6 +172,9 @@ def on_disconnect(mosq: MqttClient, userdata: t.Dict[str, str], result_code: int
     """
     Handle disconnections from the broker
     """
+    for topic, thread in topic_timeout_list.items():
+        thread.stop()
+
     if result_code == 0:
         logger.info("Clean disconnection from broker")
     else:
@@ -192,6 +207,14 @@ def on_message_handler(mosq: MqttClient, userdata: t.Dict[str, str], msg: MQTTMe
             logger.debug("Skipping retained message on %s" % topic)
             return
 
+    for match_topic in topic_timeout_list:
+        if paho.topic_matches_sub(match_topic, topic):
+            logger.debug("Message received, restarting timeout on %s" % match_topic)
+            topic_timeout_list[match_topic].restart()
+            # Sometimes it is only relevant if a timeout is reached or not
+            if topic_timeout_list[match_topic].notify_only_on_timeout:
+                return
+
     # Try to find matching settings for this topic
     for section in context.get_sections():
         # Get the topic for this section (usually the section name but optionally overridden)
diff --git a/mqttwarn/topic.py b/mqttwarn/topic.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8c88bc16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mqttwarn/topic.py
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# (c) 2014-2023 The mqttwarn developers
+
+import logging
+import threading
+import time
+import typing as t
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class TopicTimeout(threading.Thread):
+    """
+    A thread handling timeouts on mqtt topics
+    """
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        topic: t.Optional[str] = None,
+        timeout: t.Optional[int] = 1,
+        section: t.Optional[str] = None,
+        notify_only_on_timeout: t.Optional[bool] = False,
+        on_timeout: t.Optional[t.Callable] = None
+    ):
+        threading.Thread.__init__(self)
+        self.topic = topic
+        self.timeout = timeout
+        self.section = section
+        self.notify_only_on_timeout = notify_only_on_timeout
+        self._last_state_timeout = True
+        self._on_timeout = on_timeout
+        self._restart_event = threading.Event();
+        self._stop_event = threading.Event()
+
+    def run(self):
+        logger.debug("Starting thread %s for topic %s" % (self.name, self.topic))
+        # The outer loop runs until the thread receives a stop signal
+        # See: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/323972/is-there-any-way-to-kill-a-thread
+        # The outer loop is used to reset the timeout after a message was received
+        while not self._stop_event.is_set():
+            timeout = self.timeout
+            # The inner loop runs until a stop signal is received or a message is received
+            # It uses the same logic as the outer loop for the signal handling
+            while True:
+                if self._stop_event.is_set():
+                    # End the inner loop on stop signal
+                    break
+                if self._restart_event.is_set():
+                    # When a thread receives the reset signal, a message was received before the timeout.
+                    # End the inner loop on reset signal, but before check what to do with the message.
+                    # If the topic notifies only about timeout / no timeout and the last state was timeout
+                    # a notification for the OK state should be published, otherwise just restart the thread
+                    # and the received message will be handled by mqttwarn.
+                    if self.notify_only_on_timeout and self._last_state_timeout:
+                        logger.debug("%s received message for topic %s before timeout" % (self.name, self.topic))
+                        message = "Message received for topic %s within %i" % (self.topic, self.timeout)
+                        self._last_state_timeout = False
+                        self._on_timeout(self.section, self.topic, message.encode('UTF-8'))
+                    self._restart_event = threading.Event()
+                    break
+                logger.debug("%s waiting... %i" % (self.name, timeout))
+                time.sleep(1)
+                timeout = timeout - 1
+                if timeout == 0:
+                    logger.debug("%s timeout for topic %s" % (self.name, self.topic))
+                    message = "Timeout for topic %s after %i" % (self.topic, self.timeout)
+                    self._last_state_timeout = True
+                    self._on_timeout(self.section, self.topic, message.encode('UTF-8'))
+                    break
+
+    def restart(self):
+        logger.debug("Restarting timeout thread for %s (timeout %i)" % (self.topic, self.timeout))
+        self._restart_event.set()
+
+    def stop(self):
+        logger.debug("Stopping timeout thread for %s" % (self.topic))
+        self._stop_event.set()