diff --git a/test/cpp/qps/driver.cc b/test/cpp/qps/driver.cc
index ac763e4b3c6..dd5c4f4f73f 100644
--- a/test/cpp/qps/driver.cc
+++ b/test/cpp/qps/driver.cc
@@ -82,9 +82,12 @@ static deque<string> get_hosts(const string& name) {
 namespace runsc {
 
 // ClientContext allocator
-static ClientContext* AllocContext(list<ClientContext>* contexts) {
+template <class T>
+static ClientContext* AllocContext(list<ClientContext>* contexts, T deadline) {
   contexts->emplace_back();
-  return &contexts->back();
+  auto context = &contexts->back();
+  context->set_deadline(deadline);
+  return context;
 }
 
 struct ServerData {
@@ -147,6 +150,11 @@ std::unique_ptr<ScenarioResult> RunScenario(
   // Trim to just what we need
   workers.resize(num_clients + num_servers);
 
+  gpr_timespec deadline =
+      gpr_time_add(gpr_now(GPR_CLOCK_REALTIME),
+                   gpr_time_from_seconds(
+                       warmup_seconds + benchmark_seconds + 20, GPR_TIMESPAN));
+
   // Start servers
   using runsc::ServerData;
   // servers is array rather than std::vector to avoid gcc-4.4 issues
@@ -160,7 +168,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<ScenarioResult> RunScenario(
     result_server_config.set_host(workers[i]);
     *args.mutable_setup() = server_config;
     servers[i].stream =
-        servers[i].stub->RunServer(runsc::AllocContext(&contexts));
+        servers[i].stub->RunServer(runsc::AllocContext(&contexts, deadline));
     GPR_ASSERT(servers[i].stream->Write(args));
     ServerStatus init_status;
     GPR_ASSERT(servers[i].stream->Read(&init_status));
@@ -188,7 +196,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<ScenarioResult> RunScenario(
     result_client_config.set_host(workers[i + num_servers]);
     *args.mutable_setup() = client_config;
     clients[i].stream =
-        clients[i].stub->RunTest(runsc::AllocContext(&contexts));
+        clients[i].stub->RunTest(runsc::AllocContext(&contexts, deadline));
     GPR_ASSERT(clients[i].stream->Write(args));
     ClientStatus init_status;
     GPR_ASSERT(clients[i].stream->Read(&init_status));