diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/editor.cc b/gtk2_ardour/editor.cc
index addf2f3b38..f4552ea9b1 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/editor.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/editor.cc
@@ -1110,7 +1110,10 @@ Editor::on_realize ()
 	Window::on_realize ();
 	Realized ();
 
-	start_lock_event_timing ();
+	if (ARDOUR_UI::config()->get_lock_gui_after_seconds()) {
+		start_lock_event_timing ();
+	}
+
 	signal_event().connect (sigc::mem_fun (*this, &Editor::generic_event_handler));
 }
 
@@ -1143,13 +1146,12 @@ bool
 Editor::lock_timeout_callback ()
 {
 	struct timeval now, delta;
-	const uint32_t lock_timeout_secs = 5; /* 2 minutes */
 
 	gettimeofday (&now, 0);
 
 	timersub (&now, &last_event_time, &delta);
 
-	if (delta.tv_sec > lock_timeout_secs) {
+	if (delta.tv_sec > ARDOUR_UI::config()->get_lock_gui_after_seconds()) {
 		lock ();
 		/* don't call again. Returning false will effectively
 		   disconnect us from the timer callback.
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/ui_config_vars.h b/gtk2_ardour/ui_config_vars.h
index 16ffd26255..56eec53852 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/ui_config_vars.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/ui_config_vars.h
@@ -25,4 +25,5 @@ UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE(float, timeline_item_gradient_depth, "timeline-item-gradient-
 UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE(bool, all_floating_windows_are_dialogs, "all-floating-windows-are-dialogs", false)
 UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE (bool, color_regions_using_track_color, "color-regions-using-track-color", false)
 UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE (bool, show_waveform_clipping, "show-waveform-clipping", true)
+UI_CONFIG_VARIABLE (uint32_t, lock_gui_after_seconds, "lock-gui-after-seconds", 0)