diff --git a/mcp/src/main/java/io/modelcontextprotocol/client/transport/HttpClientSseClientTransport.java b/mcp/src/main/java/io/modelcontextprotocol/client/transport/HttpClientSseClientTransport.java
index 0f3511afb..d87a27361 100644
--- a/mcp/src/main/java/io/modelcontextprotocol/client/transport/HttpClientSseClientTransport.java
+++ b/mcp/src/main/java/io/modelcontextprotocol/client/transport/HttpClientSseClientTransport.java
@@ -170,8 +170,7 @@ public HttpClientSseClientTransport(HttpClient.Builder clientBuilder, String bas
 	@Deprecated(forRemoval = true)
 	public HttpClientSseClientTransport(HttpClient.Builder clientBuilder, HttpRequest.Builder requestBuilder,
 			String baseUri, String sseEndpoint, ObjectMapper objectMapper) {
-		this(clientBuilder.connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10)).build(), requestBuilder, baseUri, sseEndpoint,
-				objectMapper);
+		this(clientBuilder.build(), requestBuilder, baseUri, sseEndpoint, objectMapper);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -241,9 +240,7 @@ public static class Builder {
 
 		private String sseEndpoint = DEFAULT_SSE_ENDPOINT;
 
-		private HttpClient.Builder clientBuilder = HttpClient.newBuilder()
-			.version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_1_1)
-			.connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10));
+		private HttpClient.Builder clientBuilder = HttpClient.newBuilder().version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_1_1);
 
 		private ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
 
@@ -252,6 +249,8 @@ public static class Builder {
 
 		private AsyncHttpRequestCustomizer httpRequestCustomizer = AsyncHttpRequestCustomizer.NOOP;
 
+		private Duration connectTimeout = Duration.ofSeconds(10);
+
 		/**
 		 * Creates a new builder instance.
 		 */
@@ -383,13 +382,25 @@ public Builder asyncHttpRequestCustomizer(AsyncHttpRequestCustomizer asyncHttpRe
 			return this;
 		}
 
+		/**
+		 * Sets the connection timeout for the HTTP client.
+		 * @param connectTimeout the connection timeout duration
+		 * @return this builder
+		 */
+		public Builder connectTimeout(Duration connectTimeout) {
+			Assert.notNull(connectTimeout, "connectTimeout must not be null");
+			this.connectTimeout = connectTimeout;
+			return this;
+		}
+
 		/**
 		 * Builds a new {@link HttpClientSseClientTransport} instance.
 		 * @return a new transport instance
 		 */
 		public HttpClientSseClientTransport build() {
-			return new HttpClientSseClientTransport(clientBuilder.build(), requestBuilder, baseUri, sseEndpoint,
-					objectMapper, httpRequestCustomizer);
+			HttpClient httpClient = this.clientBuilder.connectTimeout(this.connectTimeout).build();
+			return new HttpClientSseClientTransport(httpClient, requestBuilder, baseUri, sseEndpoint, objectMapper,
+					httpRequestCustomizer);
 		}
 
 	}
diff --git a/mcp/src/main/java/io/modelcontextprotocol/client/transport/HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport.java b/mcp/src/main/java/io/modelcontextprotocol/client/transport/HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport.java
index 93c28422a..d8c49ae2f 100644
--- a/mcp/src/main/java/io/modelcontextprotocol/client/transport/HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport.java
+++ b/mcp/src/main/java/io/modelcontextprotocol/client/transport/HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport.java
@@ -588,9 +588,7 @@ public static class Builder {
 
 		private ObjectMapper objectMapper;
 
-		private HttpClient.Builder clientBuilder = HttpClient.newBuilder()
-			.version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_1_1)
-			.connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10));
+		private HttpClient.Builder clientBuilder = HttpClient.newBuilder().version(HttpClient.Version.HTTP_1_1);
 
 		private String endpoint = DEFAULT_ENDPOINT;
 
@@ -602,6 +600,8 @@ public static class Builder {
 
 		private AsyncHttpRequestCustomizer httpRequestCustomizer = AsyncHttpRequestCustomizer.NOOP;
 
+		private Duration connectTimeout = Duration.ofSeconds(10);
+
 		/**
 		 * Creates a new builder with the specified base URI.
 		 * @param baseUri the base URI of the MCP server
@@ -738,6 +738,17 @@ public Builder asyncHttpRequestCustomizer(AsyncHttpRequestCustomizer asyncHttpRe
 			return this;
 		}
 
+		/**
+		 * Sets the connection timeout for the HTTP client.
+		 * @param connectTimeout the connection timeout duration
+		 * @return this builder
+		 */
+		public Builder connectTimeout(Duration connectTimeout) {
+			Assert.notNull(connectTimeout, "connectTimeout must not be null");
+			this.connectTimeout = connectTimeout;
+			return this;
+		}
+
 		/**
 		 * Construct a fresh instance of {@link HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport} using
 		 * the current builder configuration.
@@ -746,8 +757,10 @@ public Builder asyncHttpRequestCustomizer(AsyncHttpRequestCustomizer asyncHttpRe
 		public HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport build() {
 			ObjectMapper objectMapper = this.objectMapper != null ? this.objectMapper : new ObjectMapper();
 
-			return new HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport(objectMapper, clientBuilder.build(), requestBuilder, baseUri,
-					endpoint, resumableStreams, openConnectionOnStartup, httpRequestCustomizer);
+			HttpClient httpClient = this.clientBuilder.connectTimeout(this.connectTimeout).build();
+
+			return new HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport(objectMapper, httpClient, requestBuilder, baseUri, endpoint,
+					resumableStreams, openConnectionOnStartup, httpRequestCustomizer);
 		}
 
 	}