diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c b/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
index 537e9307f..e1ccc6cbb 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ static void multi_log_hook(ErrorData *edata);
 static void CreateRequiredDirectories(void);
 static void RegisterCitusConfigVariables(void);
 static void WarningForEnableDeadlockPrevention(bool newval, void *extra);
+static bool ErrorIfNotASuitableDeadlockFactor(double *newval, void **extra,
+											  GucSource source);
 static void NormalizeWorkerListPath(void);
 
 
@@ -394,6 +396,19 @@ RegisterCitusConfigVariables(void)
 		0,
 		NULL, NULL, NULL);
 
+	DefineCustomRealVariable(
+		"citus.distributed_deadlock_detection_factor",
+		gettext_noop("Sets the time to wait before checking for distributed "
+					 "deadlocks. Postgres' deadlock_timeout setting is "
+					 "multiplied with the value. If the value is set to"
+					 "1000, distributed deadlock detection is disabled."),
+		NULL,
+		&DistributedDeadlockDetectionTimeoutFactor,
+		2.0, -1.0, 1000.0,
+		PGC_SIGHUP,
+		0,
+		ErrorIfNotASuitableDeadlockFactor, NULL, NULL);
+
 	DefineCustomBoolVariable(
 		"citus.enable_deadlock_prevention",
 		gettext_noop("Prevents transactions from expanding to multiple nodes"),
@@ -775,6 +790,27 @@ WarningForEnableDeadlockPrevention(bool newval, void *extra)
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * We don't want to allow values less than 1.0. However, we define -1 as the value to disable
+ * distributed deadlock checking. Here we enforce our special constraint.
+ */
+static bool
+ErrorIfNotASuitableDeadlockFactor(double *newval, void **extra, GucSource source)
+{
+	if (*newval <= 1.0 && *newval != -1.0)
+	{
+		ereport(WARNING, (errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE),
+						  errmsg(
+							  "citus.distributed_deadlock_detection_factor cannot be less than 1. "
+							  "To disable distributed deadlock detection set the value to -1.")));
+
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	return true;
+}
+
+
 /*
  * NormalizeWorkerListPath converts the path configured via
  * citus.worker_list_file into an absolute path, falling back to the default
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/utils/maintenanced.c b/src/backend/distributed/utils/maintenanced.c
index da5652157..2bf847455 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/utils/maintenanced.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/utils/maintenanced.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 
 #include "access/xact.h"
 #include "libpq/pqsignal.h"
+#include "distributed/distributed_deadlock_detection.h"
 #include "distributed/maintenanced.h"
 #include "distributed/metadata_cache.h"
 #include "postmaster/bgworker.h"
@@ -72,6 +73,8 @@ typedef struct MaintenanceDaemonDBData
 	Latch *latch; /* pointer to the background worker's latch */
 } MaintenanceDaemonDBData;
 
+/* config variable for distributed deadlock detection timeout */
+double DistributedDeadlockDetectionTimeoutFactor = 2.0;
 
 static shmem_startup_hook_type prev_shmem_startup_hook = NULL;
 static MaintenanceDaemonControlData *MaintenanceDaemonControl = NULL;
@@ -248,7 +251,8 @@ CitusMaintenanceDaemonMain(Datum main_arg)
 	{
 		int rc;
 		int latchFlags = WL_LATCH_SET | WL_TIMEOUT | WL_POSTMASTER_DEATH;
-		int timeout = 10000; /* wake up at least every so often */
+		double timeout = 10000.0; /* use this if the deadlock detection is disabled */
+		bool foundDeadlock = false;
 
 		CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
 
@@ -258,13 +262,40 @@ CitusMaintenanceDaemonMain(Datum main_arg)
 		 * tasks should do their own time math about whether to re-run checks.
 		 */
 
+		/* the config value -1 disables the distributed deadlock detection  */
+		if (DistributedDeadlockDetectionTimeoutFactor != -1.0)
+		{
+			StartTransactionCommand();
+			foundDeadlock = CheckForDistributedDeadlocks();
+			CommitTransactionCommand();
+
+			/*
+			 * If we find any deadlocks, run the distributed deadlock detection
+			 * more often since it is quite possible that there are other
+			 * deadlocks need to be resolved.
+			 *
+			 * Thus, we use 1/20 of the calculated value. With the default
+			 * values (i.e., deadlock_timeout 1 seconds,
+			 * citus.distributed_deadlock_detection_factor 2), we'd be able to cancel
+			 * ~10 distributed deadlocks per second.
+			 */
+			timeout =
+				DistributedDeadlockDetectionTimeoutFactor * (double) DeadlockTimeout;
+
+			if (foundDeadlock)
+			{
+				timeout = timeout / 20.0;
+			}
+		}
+
 		/*
-		 * Wait until timeout, or until somebody wakes us up.
+		 * Wait until timeout, or until somebody wakes us up. Also cast the timeout to
+		 * integer where we've calculated it using double for not losing the precision.
 		 */
 #if (PG_VERSION_NUM >= 100000)
-		rc = WaitLatch(MyLatch, latchFlags, timeout, PG_WAIT_EXTENSION);
+		rc = WaitLatch(MyLatch, latchFlags, (long) timeout, PG_WAIT_EXTENSION);
 #else
-		rc = WaitLatch(MyLatch, latchFlags, timeout);
+		rc = WaitLatch(MyLatch, latchFlags, (long) timeout);
 #endif
 
 		/* emergency bailout if postmaster has died */
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/maintenanced.h b/src/include/distributed/maintenanced.h
index bb6ebcd6b..f8fa3c6e9 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/maintenanced.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/maintenanced.h
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
 #ifndef MAINTENANCED_H
 #define MAINTENANCED_H
 
+/* config variable for */
+extern double DistributedDeadlockDetectionTimeoutFactor;
+
 extern void InitializeMaintenanceDaemon(void);
 extern void InitializeMaintenanceDaemonBackend(void);