diff --git a/worker/src/worker.cpp b/worker/src/worker.cpp
index bd03edd..6d29bed 100644
--- a/worker/src/worker.cpp
+++ b/worker/src/worker.cpp
@@ -116,10 +116,17 @@ void Worker::requestPolicyFromController() {
     GetPolicyResponse resp;
     grpc::ClientContext context;
 
+    auto deadline = std::chrono::system_clock::now() + std::chrono::seconds(1);
+    context.set_deadline(deadline);
+
     auto status = stub_->GetPolicy(&context, req, &resp);
 
     if (!status.ok()) {
-      spdlog::error("GetPolicy failed: " + status.error_message());
+      if (status.error_code() == grpc::DEADLINE_EXCEEDED) {
+        spdlog::warn("GetPolicy timed out");
+      } else {
+        spdlog::error("GetPolicy failed: {}", status.error_message());
+      }
       return;
     }
 
@@ -283,9 +290,16 @@ bool Worker::classify(const std::string &type, const std::string &target,
     ClassifyResponse resp;
     grpc::ClientContext context;
 
+    auto deadline = std::chrono::system_clock::now() + std::chrono::seconds(1);
+    context.set_deadline(deadline);
+
     auto status = stub_->Classify(&context, req, &resp);
     if (!status.ok()) {
-      spdlog::error("Classify failed: " + status.error_message());
+      if (status.error_code() == grpc::DEADLINE_EXCEEDED) {
+        spdlog::warn("Classify timed out");
+      } else {
+        spdlog::error("Classify failed: " + status.error_message());
+      }
       return false;
     }