diff --git a/lib/kafka/consumer.rb b/lib/kafka/consumer.rb
index b1c7d77f8..6768089a0 100644
--- a/lib/kafka/consumer.rb
+++ b/lib/kafka/consumer.rb
@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@ def fetch_batches
 
       if !@fetcher.data?
         @logger.debug "No batches to process"
-        sleep 2
+        sleep(@fetcher.max_wait_time || 2)
         []
       else
         tag, message = @fetcher.poll
diff --git a/lib/kafka/fetcher.rb b/lib/kafka/fetcher.rb
index 57d5a0bf7..cc423dd58 100644
--- a/lib/kafka/fetcher.rb
+++ b/lib/kafka/fetcher.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 module Kafka
   class Fetcher
-    attr_reader :queue
+    attr_reader :queue, :max_wait_time
 
     def initialize(cluster:, logger:, instrumenter:, max_queue_size:, group:)
       @cluster = cluster