diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 39840db..28603dd 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -20,3 +20,5 @@ mkmf.log
 #Intellij files
 *.iml
 *.idea
+
+vendor/
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7375c72..0162661 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 This CHANGELOG follows the format listed [here](https://github.com/sensu-plugins/community/blob/master/HOW_WE_CHANGELOG.md)
 
 ## [Unreleased]
+### Added
+- `check-http.rb`: Add options to set `--open-timeout` and `--read-timeout` for Net:HTTP. Additionally rescue `Net::OpenTimeout` and `Net::ReadTimeout` exception classes (@johanek)
+- `check-http.rb`: exposed `--dns-timeout` for Ruby DNS Resolver. (@johanek)
+
+### Changed
+- `check-http.rb`: switched to using rubies DNS resolver to allow catching DNS failures when Net::HTTP establishes connection. (@johanek)
 
 ## [4.0.0] - 2018-12-17
 ### Breaking Changes
diff --git a/bin/check-http.rb b/bin/check-http.rb
index 0533c3b..b63abcb 100755
--- a/bin/check-http.rb
+++ b/bin/check-http.rb
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
 require 'net/http'
 require 'net/https'
 require 'digest'
+require 'resolv-replace'
 
 #
 # Check HTTP
@@ -165,9 +166,27 @@ class CheckHttp < Sensu::Plugin::Check::CLI
          short: '-t SECS',
          long: '--timeout SECS',
          proc: proc(&:to_i),
-         description: 'Set the timeout',
+         description: 'Set the total execution timeout in seconds',
          default: 15
 
+  option :open_timeout,
+         long: '--open-timeout SECS',
+         proc: proc(&:to_i),
+         description: 'Number of seconds to wait for the connection to open',
+         default: 15
+
+  option :read_timeout,
+         long: '--read-timeout SECS',
+         proc: proc(&:to_i),
+         description: 'Number of seconds to wait for one block to be read',
+         default: 15
+
+  option :dns_timeout,
+         long: '--dns-timeout SECS',
+         proc: proc(&:to_f),
+         description: 'Number of seconds to allow for DNS resolution. Accepts decimal number.',
+         default: 0.8
+
   option :redirectok,
          short: '-r',
          boolean: true,
@@ -250,10 +269,20 @@ def run
       config[:port] ||= config[:ssl] ? 443 : 80
     end
 
+    # Use Ruby DNS Resolver and set DNS resolution timeout to dns_timeout value
+    hosts_resolver = Resolv::Hosts.new
+    dns_resolver = Resolv::DNS.new
+    dns_resolver.timeouts = config[:dns_timeout]
+    Resolv::DefaultResolver.replace_resolvers([hosts_resolver, dns_resolver])
+
     begin
       Timeout.timeout(config[:timeout]) do
         acquire_resource
       end
+    rescue Net::OpenTimeout
+      critical 'Request timed out opening connection'
+    rescue Net::ReadTimeout
+      critical 'Request timed out reading data'
     rescue Timeout::Error
       critical 'Request timed out'
     rescue StandardError => e
@@ -279,8 +308,8 @@ def acquire_resource
     else
       http = Net::HTTP.new(config[:host], config[:port])
     end
-    http.read_timeout = config[:timeout]
-    http.open_timeout = config[:timeout]
+    http.read_timeout = config[:read_timeout]
+    http.open_timeout = config[:open_timeout]
     http.ssl_timeout = config[:timeout]
     http.continue_timeout = config[:timeout]
     http.keep_alive_timeout = config[:timeout]
diff --git a/test/integration/helpers/serverspec/check-http-shared_spec.rb b/test/integration/helpers/serverspec/check-http-shared_spec.rb
index 32bd93a..78ce371 100644
--- a/test/integration/helpers/serverspec/check-http-shared_spec.rb
+++ b/test/integration/helpers/serverspec/check-http-shared_spec.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 gem_path = '/usr/local/bin'
 check_name = 'check-http.rb'
 check = "#{gem_path}/#{check_name}"
-domain = 'localhost'
+domain = '127.0.0.1'
 
 describe 'ruby environment' do
   it_behaves_like 'ruby checks', check
@@ -40,8 +40,14 @@
 describe command("#{check} --url https://#{domain}/okay") do
   its(:exit_status) { should eq 2 }
   if Gem::Version.new(RUBY_VERSION) >= Gem::Version.new('2.3.0')
-    its(:stdout) { should match(/CheckHttp CRITICAL: Request error: Failed to open TCP connection to localhost:443/) }
+    its(:stdout) { should match(/CheckHttp CRITICAL: Request error: Failed to open TCP connection to 127.0.0.1:443/) }
   else
-    its(:stdout) { should match(/CheckHttp CRITICAL: Request error: Cannot assign requested address - connect\(2\) for "localhost" port 443/) }
+    its(:stdout) { should match(/CheckHttp CRITICAL: Request error: Cannot assign requested address - connect\(2\) for "127.0.0.1" port 443/) }
   end
 end
+
+# DNS timeout
+describe command("#{check} --url http://blackhole.webpagetest.org/okay --dns-timeout 0.00001") do
+  its(:exit_status) { should eq 2 }
+  its(:stdout) { should match(/CheckHttp CRITICAL: Request error: Failed to open TCP connection to blackhole.webpagetest.org/) }
+end