diff --git a/docs/further_reading.md b/docs/further_reading.md
index 066be68..1112d2e 100644
--- a/docs/further_reading.md
+++ b/docs/further_reading.md
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ enableAnalytics: boolean;    // enable analytics
 cache: KeyValueStore;        // set custom cache (default lru cache)
 store: AsyncKeyValueStore;   // set custom persistent store (default file store)
 logger: Logger;              // set logger (default console)
+axiosTimeout: number;        // set timeout for requests to Harness (default 30s) 
 ```
 
 ## Singleton example
diff --git a/src/client.ts b/src/client.ts
index 917bc0d..191c814 100644
--- a/src/client.ts
+++ b/src/client.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import EventEmitter from 'events';
 import jwt_decode from 'jwt-decode';
-import axios, { AxiosInstance } from 'axios';
+import axios, { AxiosInstance, AxiosRequestConfig } from 'axios';
 import axiosRetry from 'axios-retry';
 import { Claims, Options, StreamEvent, Target } from './types';
 import { Configuration, ClientApi, FeatureConfig, Variation } from './openapi';
@@ -31,9 +31,6 @@ import {
 import https from 'https';
 import * as fs from 'fs';
 
-axios.defaults.timeout = 30000;
-axiosRetry(axios, { retries: 3, retryDelay: axiosRetry.exponentialDelay });
-
 enum Processor {
   POLL,
   STREAM,
@@ -109,22 +106,13 @@ export default class Client {
     );
     this.evaluator = new Evaluator(this.repository, this.log);
 
-    if (options.tlsTrustedCa) {
-      this.httpsCa = fs.readFileSync(options.tlsTrustedCa);
-      this.httpsClient = axios.create({
-        httpsAgent: new https.Agent({
-          ca: this.httpsCa,
-        }),
-      });
-
-      this.api = new ClientApi(
-        this.configuration,
-        this.options.baseUrl,
-        this.httpsClient,
-      );
-    } else {
-      this.api = new ClientApi(this.configuration);
-    }
+    // Setup https client for sass or on-prem connections
+    this.httpsClient = this.createAxiosInstanceWithRetries(this.options);
+    this.api = new ClientApi(
+      this.configuration,
+      this.options.baseUrl,
+      this.httpsClient,
+    );
 
     this.processEvents();
     this.run();
@@ -297,6 +285,30 @@ export default class Client {
     return this.waitForInitializePromise;
   }
 
+  private createAxiosInstanceWithRetries(options: Options): AxiosInstance {
+    let axiosConfig: AxiosRequestConfig = {
+      timeout: options.axiosTimeout,
+    };
+
+    if (options.tlsTrustedCa) {
+      const httpsCa = fs.readFileSync(options.tlsTrustedCa);
+      // Set axiosConfig with httpsAgent when TLS config is provided
+      axiosConfig = {
+        ...axiosConfig,
+        httpsAgent: new https.Agent({
+          ca: httpsCa,
+        }),
+      };
+    }
+
+    const instance: AxiosInstance = axios.create(axiosConfig);
+    axiosRetry(instance, {
+      retries: 3,
+      retryDelay: axiosRetry.exponentialDelay,
+    });
+    return instance;
+  }
+
   private initialize(processor: Processor): void {
     switch (processor) {
       case Processor.POLL:
diff --git a/src/constants.ts b/src/constants.ts
index 1539974..a9022a9 100644
--- a/src/constants.ts
+++ b/src/constants.ts
@@ -44,4 +44,5 @@ export const defaultOptions: Options = {
   cache: new LRU({ max: 100 }),
   store: new FileStore(),
   logger: new ConsoleLog(),
+  axiosTimeout: 30000,
 };
diff --git a/src/metrics.ts b/src/metrics.ts
index 631029f..d6a700f 100644
--- a/src/metrics.ts
+++ b/src/metrics.ts
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ export class MetricsProcessor implements MetricsProcessorInterface {
       basePath: options.eventsUrl,
     });
     if (httpsClient) {
-      this.api = new MetricsApi(this.conf, options.eventsUrl, this.httpsClient);
+      this.api = new MetricsApi(configuration, options.eventsUrl, this.httpsClient);
     } else {
       this.api = new MetricsApi(configuration);
     }
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 66fdadc..61a67cc 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ export interface Options {
   store?: AsyncKeyValueStore;
   logger?: Logger;
   tlsTrustedCa?: string;
+  axiosTimeout?: number;
 }
 
 export interface Claims {
diff --git a/src/version.ts b/src/version.ts
index f5ddf13..0a27cf3 100644
--- a/src/version.ts
+++ b/src/version.ts
@@ -1 +1 @@
-export const VERSION = '1.7.0';
+export const VERSION = '1.8.0';