diff --git a/src/uart/uart.c b/src/uart/uart.c
index 4cfd81a..56aa469 100644
--- a/src/uart/uart.c
+++ b/src/uart/uart.c
@@ -692,7 +692,14 @@ mraa_uart_set_timeout(mraa_uart_context dev, int read, int write, int interchar)
             read = 1;
     }
     termio.c_lflag &= ~ICANON; /* Set non-canonical mode */
-    termio.c_cc[VTIME] = read; /* Set timeout in tenth seconds */
+    if (read > 0) {
+        termio.c_cc[VTIME] = read; /* Set timeout in tenth seconds */
+        termio.c_cc[VMIN]  = 0;
+    } else {
+        termio.c_cc[VTIME] = 0;   /* read <= 0 will disable timeout */
+        termio.c_cc[VMIN]  = 1;
+    }
+
     if (tcsetattr(dev->fd, TCSANOW, &termio) < 0) {
         syslog(LOG_ERR, "uart%i: set_timeout: tcsetattr() failed: %s", dev->index, strerror(errno));
         return MRAA_ERROR_FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED;