diff --git a/data/tools/unit_tree/update-wmlunits b/data/tools/unit_tree/update-wmlunits
index 21ac68018b6..7a8a2679aa0 100755
--- a/data/tools/unit_tree/update-wmlunits
+++ b/data/tools/unit_tree/update-wmlunits
@@ -3,12 +3,13 @@
 set -e -u
 
 # set them in the environment
-# VERSION=1.10
-# PORT=1.10.x
+# VERSION=1.12
+# PORT=1.12.x
 
 # must run from the correct directory
 DIR="$(dirname $0)"
 
+TIMEOUT=${TIMEOUT:-20}
 SOURCES=/usr/src/wesnoth
 ADDONS=$DIR/addons
 EXE=$DIR/build/wesnoth
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ OUT="elias@192.168.1.2:/srv/www/html/units/$VERSION"
 TRANS=$DIR/translations
 BUILD=$DIR/build
 # always using the master version
-TOOLS=$SOURCES/master/data/tools
+TOOLS=${TOOLS:-$SOURCES/master/data/tools}
 export TEMP=$DIR/temp
 
 mkdir -p $CONFIG/data/add-ons
@@ -35,16 +36,16 @@ rm -rf $TEMP/*
 
 # we only need the parser, but have to build the game executable for that
 echo BUILDING
-make -C $BUILD wesnoth > /dev/null 2>&1 || true
-make -C $BUILD mo-update > /dev/null 2>&1
+#make -C $BUILD wesnoth > /dev/null 2>&1 || true
+#make -C $BUILD mo-update > /dev/null 2>&1
 
 # later can just rebuild updated campaigns, but for now rebuild everything
 rm -f $DIR/overview.txt
 
 echo DOWNLOADING
-$TOOLS/wesnoth_addon_manager -p $PORT -d '.*' -c $ADDONS > $LOG/wesnoth_addon_manager.txt 2>&1 &&
+#$TOOLS/wesnoth_addon_manager -p $PORT -d '.*' -c $ADDONS > $LOG/wesnoth_addon_manager.txt 2>&1 &&
 echo WORKING
-python -u $TOOLS/wmlunits -t $TRANS -D $DATA -o $TMPOUT -w $EXE -C $CONFIG -a $ADDONS -L $DIR/overview.txt -B $DIR/overview.txt > $LOG/wmlunits.txt 2>&1 &&
+python -u $TOOLS/wmlunits -t $TRANS -D $DATA -o $TMPOUT -w $EXE -C $CONFIG -a $ADDONS -L $DIR/overview.txt -B $DIR/overview.txt -T $TIMEOUT # > $LOG/wmlunits.txt 2>&1 &&
 rsync -vaz --delete $TMPOUT/ $OUT > $LOG/rsync.txt 2>&1 &&
 rm -rf $TEMP/* &&
 rm -rf $TMPOUT
diff --git a/data/tools/wmlunits b/data/tools/wmlunits
index f5c6205b4e1..730df73d2ed 100755
--- a/data/tools/wmlunits
+++ b/data/tools/wmlunits
@@ -540,6 +540,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
 
     global options
     global image_collector
+    global TIMEOUT
 
     ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     ap.add_argument("-C", "--config-dir",
@@ -559,6 +560,9 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     ap.add_argument("-t", "--transdir",
         help="Specify the directory with gettext message catalogues. " +
         "Defaults to ./translations.", default="translations")
+    ap.add_argument("-T", "--timeout",
+        help="Use the timeout iven in seconds when parsing WML, default is 20 " +
+            "seconds.")
     ap.add_argument("-r", "--reparse", action="store_true",
         help="Reparse everything.")
     ap.add_argument("-a", "--addons",
@@ -588,6 +592,9 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     if options.output:
         options.output = os.path.expanduser(options.output)
 
+    if options.timeout:
+        TIMEOUT = int(options.timeout)
+
     if not options.wesnoth:
         options.wesnoth = "wesnoth"