diff --git a/framework-docs/src/docs/asciidoc/integration/rest-clients.adoc b/framework-docs/src/docs/asciidoc/integration/rest-clients.adoc
index 8a47198d4b10..2ee33cc1d6ac 100644
--- a/framework-docs/src/docs/asciidoc/integration/rest-clients.adoc
+++ b/framework-docs/src/docs/asciidoc/integration/rest-clients.adoc
@@ -497,6 +497,11 @@ Annotated, HTTP exchange methods support the following return values:
 TIP: You can also use any other async or reactive types registered in the
 `ReactiveAdapterRegistry`.
 
+TIP: For non-reactive types, blocking from a reactive publisher is performed
+under the hood by the framework. By default, it is done without a timeout.
+You can set a timeout for blocking by calling `blockTimeout(Duration blockTimeout)`
+on `HttpServiceProxyFactory.Builder`.
+
 
 [[rest-http-interface-exceptions]]
 === Exception Handling
diff --git a/framework-docs/src/docs/asciidoc/rsocket.adoc b/framework-docs/src/docs/asciidoc/rsocket.adoc
index 4da739d73c71..3805a2be238d 100644
--- a/framework-docs/src/docs/asciidoc/rsocket.adoc
+++ b/framework-docs/src/docs/asciidoc/rsocket.adoc
@@ -979,3 +979,8 @@ method parameters:
 Annotated, RSocket exchange methods support return values that are concrete value(s), or
 any producer of value(s) that can be adapted to a Reactive Streams `Publisher` via
 `ReactiveAdapterRegistry`.
+
+TIP: For non-reactive types, blocking from a reactive publisher is performed
+under the hood by the framework. By default, it is done without a timeout.
+You can set a timeout for blocking by calling `blockTimeout(Duration blockTimeout)`
+on `RSocketServiceProxyFactory.Builder`.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/rsocket/service/RSocketServiceMethod.java b/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/rsocket/service/RSocketServiceMethod.java
index 29b0c796e95b..db26f744f8a5 100644
--- a/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/rsocket/service/RSocketServiceMethod.java
+++ b/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/rsocket/service/RSocketServiceMethod.java
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ final class RSocketServiceMethod {
 	RSocketServiceMethod(
 			Method method, Class<?> containingClass, List<RSocketServiceArgumentResolver> argumentResolvers,
 			RSocketRequester rsocketRequester, @Nullable StringValueResolver embeddedValueResolver,
-			ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveRegistry, Duration blockTimeout) {
+			ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveRegistry, @Nullable Duration blockTimeout) {
 
 		this.method = method;
 		this.parameters = initMethodParameters(method);
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ private static String initRoute(
 
 	private static Function<RSocketRequestValues, Object> initResponseFunction(
 			RSocketRequester requester, Method method,
-			ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveRegistry, Duration blockTimeout) {
+			ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveRegistry, @Nullable Duration blockTimeout) {
 
 		MethodParameter returnParam = new MethodParameter(method, -1);
 		Class<?> returnType = returnParam.getParameterType();
@@ -164,8 +164,10 @@ else if (reactiveAdapter == null) {
 				return reactiveAdapter.fromPublisher(responsePublisher);
 			}
 			return (blockForOptional ?
-					((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).blockOptional(blockTimeout) :
-					((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).block(blockTimeout));
+					(blockTimeout != null ? ((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).blockOptional(blockTimeout) :
+							((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).blockOptional()) :
+					(blockTimeout != null ? ((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).block(blockTimeout) :
+							((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).block()));
 		});
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/rsocket/service/RSocketServiceProxyFactory.java b/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/rsocket/service/RSocketServiceProxyFactory.java
index f4480923f5b6..076cb862b2aa 100644
--- a/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/rsocket/service/RSocketServiceProxyFactory.java
+++ b/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/rsocket/service/RSocketServiceProxyFactory.java
@@ -59,13 +59,14 @@ public final class RSocketServiceProxyFactory {
 
 	private final ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveAdapterRegistry;
 
+	@Nullable
 	private final Duration blockTimeout;
 
 
 	private RSocketServiceProxyFactory(
 			RSocketRequester rsocketRequester, List<RSocketServiceArgumentResolver> argumentResolvers,
 			@Nullable StringValueResolver embeddedValueResolver,
-			ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveAdapterRegistry, Duration blockTimeout) {
+			ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveAdapterRegistry, @Nullable Duration blockTimeout) {
 
 		this.rsocketRequester = rsocketRequester;
 		this.argumentResolvers = argumentResolvers;
@@ -139,7 +140,7 @@ public static final class Builder {
 		private ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveAdapterRegistry = ReactiveAdapterRegistry.getSharedInstance();
 
 		@Nullable
-		private Duration blockTimeout = Duration.ofSeconds(5);
+		private Duration blockTimeout;
 
 		private Builder() {
 		}
@@ -189,7 +190,8 @@ public Builder reactiveAdapterRegistry(ReactiveAdapterRegistry registry) {
 		/**
 		 * Configure how long to wait for a response for an HTTP service method
 		 * with a synchronous (blocking) method signature.
-		 * <p>By default this is 5 seconds.
+		 * <p>By default this is {@code null},
+		 * in which case means blocking on publishers is done without a timeout.
 		 * @param blockTimeout the timeout value
 		 * @return this same builder instance
 		 */
@@ -207,7 +209,7 @@ public RSocketServiceProxyFactory build() {
 			return new RSocketServiceProxyFactory(
 					this.rsocketRequester, initArgumentResolvers(),
 					this.embeddedValueResolver, this.reactiveAdapterRegistry,
-					(this.blockTimeout != null ? this.blockTimeout : Duration.ofSeconds(5)));
+					this.blockTimeout);
 		}
 
 		private List<RSocketServiceArgumentResolver> initArgumentResolvers() {
diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/service/invoker/HttpServiceMethod.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/service/invoker/HttpServiceMethod.java
index 701d640d8979..2a01b0baeee5 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/service/invoker/HttpServiceMethod.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/service/invoker/HttpServiceMethod.java
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ final class HttpServiceMethod {
 	HttpServiceMethod(
 			Method method, Class<?> containingClass, List<HttpServiceArgumentResolver> argumentResolvers,
 			HttpClientAdapter client, @Nullable StringValueResolver embeddedValueResolver,
-			ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveRegistry, Duration blockTimeout) {
+			ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveRegistry, @Nullable Duration blockTimeout) {
 
 		this.method = method;
 		this.parameters = initMethodParameters(method);
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ private static List<MediaType> initAccept(@Nullable HttpExchange typeAnnot, Http
 	private record ResponseFunction(
 			Function<HttpRequestValues, Publisher<?>> responseFunction,
 			@Nullable ReactiveAdapter returnTypeAdapter,
-			boolean blockForOptional, Duration blockTimeout) {
+			boolean blockForOptional, @Nullable Duration blockTimeout) {
 
 		private ResponseFunction(
 				Function<HttpRequestValues, Publisher<?>> responseFunction,
@@ -298,8 +298,10 @@ public Object execute(HttpRequestValues requestValues) {
 			}
 
 			return (this.blockForOptional ?
-					((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).blockOptional(this.blockTimeout) :
-					((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).block(this.blockTimeout));
+					(this.blockTimeout != null ? ((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).blockOptional(this.blockTimeout) :
+							((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).blockOptional()) :
+					(this.blockTimeout != null ? ((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).block(this.blockTimeout) :
+							((Mono<?>) responsePublisher).block()));
 		}
 
 
diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/service/invoker/HttpServiceProxyFactory.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/service/invoker/HttpServiceProxyFactory.java
index 8c1d9a90cb48..51bb1e285b7b 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/service/invoker/HttpServiceProxyFactory.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/service/invoker/HttpServiceProxyFactory.java
@@ -66,13 +66,14 @@ public final class HttpServiceProxyFactory {
 
 	private final ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveAdapterRegistry;
 
+	@Nullable
 	private final Duration blockTimeout;
 
 
 	private HttpServiceProxyFactory(
 			HttpClientAdapter clientAdapter, List<HttpServiceArgumentResolver> argumentResolvers,
 			@Nullable StringValueResolver embeddedValueResolver,
-			ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveAdapterRegistry, Duration blockTimeout) {
+			ReactiveAdapterRegistry reactiveAdapterRegistry, @Nullable Duration blockTimeout) {
 
 		this.clientAdapter = clientAdapter;
 		this.argumentResolvers = argumentResolvers;
@@ -208,7 +209,8 @@ public Builder reactiveAdapterRegistry(ReactiveAdapterRegistry registry) {
 		/**
 		 * Configure how long to wait for a response for an HTTP service method
 		 * with a synchronous (blocking) method signature.
-		 * <p>By default this is 5 seconds.
+		 * <p>By default this is {@code null},
+		 * in which case means blocking on publishers is done without a timeout.
 		 * @param blockTimeout the timeout value
 		 * @return this same builder instance
 		 */
@@ -226,7 +228,7 @@ public HttpServiceProxyFactory build() {
 			return new HttpServiceProxyFactory(
 					this.clientAdapter, initArgumentResolvers(),
 					this.embeddedValueResolver, this.reactiveAdapterRegistry,
-					(this.blockTimeout != null ? this.blockTimeout : Duration.ofSeconds(5)));
+					this.blockTimeout);
 		}
 
 		private List<HttpServiceArgumentResolver> initArgumentResolvers() {