diff --git a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/gateway/SimpleMessagingGateway.java b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/gateway/SimpleMessagingGateway.java
index 26d978bbd1..5078d2166f 100644
--- a/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/gateway/SimpleMessagingGateway.java
+++ b/org.springframework.integration/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/gateway/SimpleMessagingGateway.java
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ public class SimpleMessagingGateway extends MessagingGatewaySupport implements M
 
 	private volatile PollableChannel replyChannel;
 
-	private volatile long replyTimeout = 5000;
+	private volatile long replyTimeout = -1;
 
 	private volatile int replyMapCapacity = 100;