diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 134eb35..e36581e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 2.8.1 (2016-XX-YY)
+
+### Fixes
+
+ * Add timeout to xmpp.muc.join() for case where connection dies while client is waiting for presence messages sent by server ([#29](https://github.com/abusesa/idiokit/pull/29))
+
 ## 2.8.0 (2016-06-22)
 
 ### Features
diff --git a/idiokit/idiokit.py b/idiokit/idiokit.py
index 6c1a18b..b13c96b 100644
--- a/idiokit/idiokit.py
+++ b/idiokit/idiokit.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from ._selectloop import sleep, asap, iterate
 from .values import Value
 
-__version__ = "2.8.0"
+__version__ = "2.8.1"
 
 NULL = Value(None)
 
diff --git a/idiokit/xmpp/muc.py b/idiokit/xmpp/muc.py
index ea5a3f0..df5fb91 100644
--- a/idiokit/xmpp/muc.py
+++ b/idiokit/xmpp/muc.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import random
 
-from .. import idiokit
+from .. import idiokit, timer
 from ..xmlcore import Element
 from .core import STANZA_NS, XMPPError
 from .jid import JID
@@ -65,7 +65,10 @@ def join_room(jid, xmpp, output, password=None, history=False):
     yield xmpp.core.presence(x, to=JID(jid))
 
     while True:
-        element = yield output.next()
+        try:
+            element = yield timer.timeout(120.0, output.next())
+        except timer.Timeout:
+            raise MUCError("timeout while joining room {0!r}".format(unicode(jid.bare())))
 
         parsed = parse_presence(element, jid)
         if parsed is None: