diff --git a/common/kernel/command.cc b/common/kernel/command.cc
index a51f9576f4..fc58d38360 100644
--- a/common/kernel/command.cc
+++ b/common/kernel/command.cc
@@ -396,6 +396,8 @@ po::options_description CommandHandler::getGeneralOptions()
     general.add_options()("parallel-refine", "use new experimental parallelised engine for placement refinement");
 #endif
 
+    general.add_options()("router1-timeout", po::value<int>(), "Timeout for router1 in iteration count (default: 0, no timeout)");
+
     general.add_options()("router2-heatmap", po::value<std::string>(),
                           "prefix for router2 resource congestion heatmaps");
 
@@ -538,6 +540,10 @@ void CommandHandler::setupContext(Context *ctx)
     if (vm.count("parallel-refine"))
         ctx->settings[ctx->id("placerHeap/parallelRefine")] = true;
 
+    if (vm.count("router1-timeout")) {
+        ctx->settings[ctx->id("router1/maxIterCnt")] = std::to_string(std::max(0, vm["router1-timeout"].as<int>()));
+    }
+
     if (vm.count("router2-heatmap"))
         ctx->settings[ctx->id("router2/heatmap")] = vm["router2-heatmap"].as<std::string>();
     if (vm.count("tmg-ripup") || vm.count("router2-tmg-ripup"))
diff --git a/common/route/router1.cc b/common/route/router1.cc
index 510065f611..625f68dbfb 100644
--- a/common/route/router1.cc
+++ b/common/route/router1.cc
@@ -1146,7 +1146,7 @@ NEXTPNR_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 
 Router1Cfg::Router1Cfg(Context *ctx)
 {
-    maxIterCnt = ctx->setting<int>("router1/maxIterCnt", 200);
+    maxIterCnt = ctx->setting<int>("router1/maxIterCnt", 0);
     cleanupReroute = ctx->setting<bool>("router1/cleanupReroute", true);
     fullCleanupReroute = ctx->setting<bool>("router1/fullCleanupReroute", true);
     useEstimate = ctx->setting<bool>("router1/useEstimate", true);
@@ -1199,11 +1199,17 @@ bool router1(Context *ctx, const Router1Cfg &cfg)
                 last_arcs_with_ripup = router.arcs_with_ripup;
                 last_arcs_without_ripup = router.arcs_without_ripup;
                 ctx->yield();
+                
 #ifndef NDEBUG
                 router.check();
 #endif
             }
-
+            if (cfg.maxIterCnt){
+                if (iter_cnt > cfg.maxIterCnt) {
+                    log_error("Max iteration count reached, stopping routing.\n");
+                }
+            }
+            
             if (ctx->debug)
                 log("-- %d --\n", iter_cnt);