diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index aaab7b2d75..9a7b3ea275 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 
 - Simplified the function signatures of `recvmmsg` and `sendmmsg`
 
+- The `timeout` argument of `poll::poll` is now of type `poll::PollTimeout`.
+  ([#1876](https://github.com/nix-rust/nix/pull/1876))
+
 ### Added
 - Added `Icmp` and `IcmpV6` to `SockProtocol`.
   (#[2103](https://github.com/nix-rust/nix/pull/2103))
diff --git a/src/poll.rs b/src/poll.rs
index 2a8b62d2ad..a2c1ad6ca6 100644
--- a/src/poll.rs
+++ b/src/poll.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 //! Wait for events to trigger on specific file descriptors
 use std::os::unix::io::{AsFd, AsRawFd, BorrowedFd};
+use std::time::Duration;
 
 use crate::errno::Errno;
 use crate::Result;
-
 /// This is a wrapper around `libc::pollfd`.
 ///
 /// It's meant to be used as an argument to the [`poll`](fn.poll.html) and
@@ -179,6 +179,180 @@ libc_bitflags! {
     }
 }
 
+/// Timeout argument for [`poll`].
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, Eq, PartialEq, Ord, PartialOrd)]
+pub struct PollTimeout(i32);
+
+impl PollTimeout {
+    /// Blocks indefinitely.
+    ///
+    /// > Specifying a negative value in timeout means an infinite timeout.
+    pub const NONE: Self = Self(-1);
+    /// Returns immediately.
+    ///
+    /// > Specifying  a timeout of zero causes poll() to return immediately, even if no file
+    /// > descriptors are ready.
+    pub const ZERO: Self = Self(0);
+    /// Blocks for at most [`std::i32::MAX`] milliseconds.
+    pub const MAX: Self = Self(i32::MAX);
+    /// Returns if `self` equals [`PollTimeout::NONE`].
+    pub fn is_none(&self) -> bool {
+        // > Specifying a negative value in timeout means an infinite timeout.
+        *self <= Self::NONE
+    }
+    /// Returns if `self` does not equal [`PollTimeout::NONE`].
+    pub fn is_some(&self) -> bool {
+        !self.is_none()
+    }
+    /// Returns the timeout in milliseconds if there is some, otherwise returns `None`.
+    pub fn timeout(&self) -> Option<i32> {
+        self.is_some().then_some(self.0)
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T: Into<PollTimeout>> From<Option<T>> for PollTimeout {
+    fn from(x: Option<T>) -> Self {
+        x.map_or(Self::NONE, |x| x.into())
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<Duration> for PollTimeout {
+    type Error = <i32 as TryFrom<u128>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: Duration) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        Ok(Self(i32::try_from(x.as_millis())?))
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<u128> for PollTimeout {
+    type Error = <i32 as TryFrom<u128>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: u128) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        Ok(Self(i32::try_from(x)?))
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<u64> for PollTimeout {
+    type Error = <i32 as TryFrom<u64>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: u64) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        Ok(Self(i32::try_from(x)?))
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<u32> for PollTimeout {
+    type Error = <i32 as TryFrom<u32>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: u32) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        Ok(Self(i32::try_from(x)?))
+    }
+}
+impl From<u16> for PollTimeout {
+    fn from(x: u16) -> Self {
+        Self(i32::from(x))
+    }
+}
+impl From<u8> for PollTimeout {
+    fn from(x: u8) -> Self {
+        Self(i32::from(x))
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<i128> for PollTimeout {
+    type Error = <i32 as TryFrom<i128>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: i128) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        match x {
+            // > Specifying a negative value in timeout means an infinite timeout.
+            i128::MIN..=-1 => Ok(Self::NONE),
+            millis @ 0.. => Ok(Self(i32::try_from(millis)?)),
+        }
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<i64> for PollTimeout {
+    type Error = <i32 as TryFrom<i64>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: i64) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        match x {
+            i64::MIN..=-1 => Ok(Self::NONE),
+            millis @ 0.. => Ok(Self(i32::try_from(millis)?)),
+        }
+    }
+}
+impl From<i32> for PollTimeout {
+    fn from(x: i32) -> Self {
+        Self(x)
+    }
+}
+impl From<i16> for PollTimeout {
+    fn from(x: i16) -> Self {
+        Self(i32::from(x))
+    }
+}
+impl From<i8> for PollTimeout {
+    fn from(x: i8) -> Self {
+        Self(i32::from(x))
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<PollTimeout> for Duration {
+    type Error = ();
+    fn try_from(x: PollTimeout) -> std::result::Result<Self, ()> {
+        match x.timeout() {
+            // SAFETY: When `x.timeout()` returns `Some(a)`, `a` is always non-negative.
+            Some(millis) => Ok(Duration::from_millis(unsafe {
+                u64::try_from(millis).unwrap_unchecked()
+            })),
+            None => Err(()),
+        }
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<PollTimeout> for u128 {
+    type Error = <Self as TryFrom<i32>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: PollTimeout) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        Self::try_from(x.0)
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<PollTimeout> for u64 {
+    type Error = <Self as TryFrom<i32>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: PollTimeout) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        Self::try_from(x.0)
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<PollTimeout> for u32 {
+    type Error = <Self as TryFrom<i32>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: PollTimeout) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        Self::try_from(x.0)
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<PollTimeout> for u16 {
+    type Error = <Self as TryFrom<i32>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: PollTimeout) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        Self::try_from(x.0)
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<PollTimeout> for u8 {
+    type Error = <Self as TryFrom<i32>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: PollTimeout) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        Self::try_from(x.0)
+    }
+}
+impl From<PollTimeout> for i128 {
+    fn from(x: PollTimeout) -> Self {
+        Self::from(x.0)
+    }
+}
+impl From<PollTimeout> for i64 {
+    fn from(x: PollTimeout) -> Self {
+        Self::from(x.0)
+    }
+}
+impl From<PollTimeout> for i32 {
+    fn from(x: PollTimeout) -> Self {
+        x.0
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<PollTimeout> for i16 {
+    type Error = <Self as TryFrom<i32>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: PollTimeout) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        Self::try_from(x.0)
+    }
+}
+impl TryFrom<PollTimeout> for i8 {
+    type Error = <Self as TryFrom<i32>>::Error;
+    fn try_from(x: PollTimeout) -> std::result::Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        Self::try_from(x.0)
+    }
+}
+
 /// `poll` waits for one of a set of file descriptors to become ready to perform I/O.
 /// ([`poll(2)`](https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/poll.html))
 ///
@@ -195,13 +369,20 @@ libc_bitflags! {
 ///
 /// Note that the timeout interval will be rounded up to the system clock
 /// granularity, and kernel scheduling delays mean that the blocking
-/// interval may overrun by a small amount.  Specifying a negative value
-/// in timeout means an infinite timeout.  Specifying a timeout of zero
-/// causes `poll()` to return immediately, even if no file descriptors are
-/// ready.
-pub fn poll(fds: &mut [PollFd], timeout: libc::c_int) -> Result<libc::c_int> {
+/// interval may overrun by a small amount.  Specifying a [`PollTimeout::NONE`]
+/// in timeout means an infinite timeout.  Specifying a timeout of
+/// [`PollTimeout::ZERO`] causes `poll()` to return immediately, even if no file
+/// descriptors are ready.
+pub fn poll<T: Into<PollTimeout>>(
+    fds: &mut [PollFd],
+    timeout: T,
+) -> Result<libc::c_int> {
     let res = unsafe {
-        libc::poll(fds.as_mut_ptr().cast(), fds.len() as libc::nfds_t, timeout)
+        libc::poll(
+            fds.as_mut_ptr().cast(),
+            fds.len() as libc::nfds_t,
+            i32::from(timeout.into()),
+        )
     };
 
     Errno::result(res)
diff --git a/test/test_poll.rs b/test/test_poll.rs
index fb4291721d..4227f59994 100644
--- a/test/test_poll.rs
+++ b/test/test_poll.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use nix::{
     errno::Errno,
-    poll::{poll, PollFd, PollFlags},
+    poll::{poll, PollFd, PollFlags, PollTimeout},
     unistd::{pipe, write},
 };
 use std::os::unix::io::{AsFd, BorrowedFd};
@@ -23,14 +23,14 @@ fn test_poll() {
     let mut fds = [PollFd::new(r.as_fd(), PollFlags::POLLIN)];
 
     // Poll an idle pipe.  Should timeout
-    let nfds = loop_while_eintr!(poll(&mut fds, 100));
+    let nfds = loop_while_eintr!(poll(&mut fds, PollTimeout::from(100u8)));
     assert_eq!(nfds, 0);
     assert!(!fds[0].revents().unwrap().contains(PollFlags::POLLIN));
 
     write(&w, b".").unwrap();
 
     // Poll a readable pipe.  Should return an event.
-    let nfds = poll(&mut fds, 100).unwrap();
+    let nfds = poll(&mut fds, PollTimeout::from(100u8)).unwrap();
     assert_eq!(nfds, 1);
     assert!(fds[0].revents().unwrap().contains(PollFlags::POLLIN));
 }