diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/kong/fix-dns-resolv-timeout-zero.yml b/changelog/unreleased/kong/fix-dns-resolv-timeout-zero.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8afed868f164
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/kong/fix-dns-resolv-timeout-zero.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+message: "**DNS Client**: ignore a non-positive values on resolv.conf for options timeout, and use a default value of 2 seconds instead."
+type: bugfix
+scope: Core
diff --git a/kong/resty/dns/client.lua b/kong/resty/dns/client.lua
index fcc92a4217d7..8c611031f199 100644
--- a/kong/resty/dns/client.lua
+++ b/kong/resty/dns/client.lua
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ local log = ngx.log
 local ERR = ngx.ERR
 local WARN = ngx.WARN
 local ALERT = ngx.ALERT
+local NOTICE = ngx.NOTICE
 local DEBUG = ngx.DEBUG
 --[[
   DEBUG = ngx.WARN
@@ -54,6 +55,8 @@ local req_dyn_hook_run_hooks = req_dyn_hook.run_hooks
 
 local DOT   = string_byte(".")
 local COLON = string_byte(":")
+local DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 2000 -- 2000 is openresty default
+
 
 local EMPTY = setmetatable({},
   {__newindex = function() error("The 'EMPTY' table is read-only") end})
@@ -621,10 +624,15 @@ _M.init = function(options)
     if resolv.options.timeout then
       options.timeout = resolv.options.timeout * 1000
     else
-      options.timeout = 2000  -- 2000 is openresty default
+      options.timeout = DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
     end
   end
-  log(DEBUG, PREFIX, "timeout = ", options.timeout, " ms")
+  if options.timeout > 0 then
+    log(DEBUG, PREFIX, "timeout = ", options.timeout, " ms")
+  else
+    log(NOTICE, PREFIX, "timeout = ", DEFAULT_TIMEOUT, " ms (a non-positive timeout of ", options.timeout, " configured - using default timeout)")
+    options.timeout = DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
+  end
 
   -- setup the search order
   options.ndots = options.ndots or resolv.options.ndots or 1
diff --git a/t/03-dns-client/00-sanity.t b/t/03-dns-client/00-sanity.t
index 0c365c576efd..2856ea84b08a 100644
--- a/t/03-dns-client/00-sanity.t
+++ b/t/03-dns-client/00-sanity.t
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ use strict;
 use warnings FATAL => 'all';
 use Test::Nginx::Socket::Lua;
 
-plan tests => 2;
+plan tests => 5;
 
 run_tests();
 
@@ -25,3 +25,20 @@ GET /t
 --- response_body
 127.0.0.1
 --- no_error_log
+
+
+
+=== TEST 2: load lua-resty-dns-client
+--- config
+    location = /t {
+        access_by_lua_block {
+            local client = require("kong.resty.dns.client")
+            assert(client.init({ timeout = 0 }))
+            ngx.exit(200)
+        }
+    }
+--- request
+GET /t
+--- error_log
+[notice]
+timeout = 2000 ms (a non-positive timeout of 0 configured - using default timeout)