diff --git a/command/agent/config.go b/command/agent/config.go
index 8c115400c6..316057b164 100644
--- a/command/agent/config.go
+++ b/command/agent/config.go
@@ -103,19 +103,19 @@ type DNSConfig struct {
 	// OnlyPassing is used to determine whether to filter nodes
 	// whose health checks are in any non-passing state. By
 	// default, only nodes in a critical state are excluded.
-	OnlyPassing bool `mapstructure:"only_passing"`
+	OnlyPassing        bool `mapstructure:"only_passing"`
 
 	// DisableCompression is used to control whether DNS responses are
 	// compressed. In Consul 0.7 this was turned on by default and this
 	// config was added as an opt-out.
 	DisableCompression bool `mapstructure:"disable_compression"`
 
-	// InternalClientTimeout specifies the timeout in seconds
-	// for Consul's internal dns client.  This value is used for the
-	// connection, read and write timeout.
+	// RecursorTimeout specifies the timeout in seconds
+	// for Consul's internal dns client used for recursion.
+	// This value is used for the connection, read and write timeout.
 	// Default: 2s
-	InternalClientTimeout    time.Duration `mapstructure:"-"`
-	InternalClientTimeoutRaw string        `mapstructure:"internal_client_timeout" json:"-"`
+	RecursorTimeout			time.Duration `mapstructure:"-"`
+	RecursorTimeoutRaw string	`mapstructure:"recursor_timeout" json:"-"`
 }
 
 // Performance is used to tune the performance of Consul's subsystems.
@@ -653,7 +653,7 @@ func DefaultConfig() *Config {
 		DNSConfig: DNSConfig{
 			UDPAnswerLimit:        3,
 			MaxStale:              5 * time.Second,
-			InternalClientTimeout: 2 * time.Second,
+			RecursorTimeout: 2 * time.Second,
 		},
 		Telemetry: Telemetry{
 			StatsitePrefix: "consul",
@@ -846,12 +846,12 @@ func DecodeConfig(r io.Reader) (*Config, error) {
 		result.DNSConfig.MaxStale = dur
 	}
 
-	if raw := result.DNSConfig.InternalClientTimeoutRaw; raw != "" {
+	if raw := result.DNSConfig.RecursorTimeoutRaw; raw != "" {
 		dur, err := time.ParseDuration(raw)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("InternalClientTimeout invalid: %v", err)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("RecursorTimeout invalid: %v", err)
 		}
-		result.DNSConfig.InternalClientTimeout = dur
+		result.DNSConfig.RecursorTimeout = dur
 	}
 
 	if len(result.DNSConfig.ServiceTTLRaw) != 0 {
@@ -1369,8 +1369,8 @@ func MergeConfig(a, b *Config) *Config {
 	if b.DNSConfig.DisableCompression {
 		result.DNSConfig.DisableCompression = true
 	}
-	if b.DNSConfig.InternalClientTimeout != 0 {
-		result.DNSConfig.InternalClientTimeout = b.DNSConfig.InternalClientTimeout
+	if b.DNSConfig.RecursorTimeout != 0 {
+		result.DNSConfig.RecursorTimeout = b.DNSConfig.RecursorTimeout
 	}
 	if b.CheckUpdateIntervalRaw != "" || b.CheckUpdateInterval != 0 {
 		result.CheckUpdateInterval = b.CheckUpdateInterval
diff --git a/command/agent/config_test.go b/command/agent/config_test.go
index f9eab63d2e..2ce38b7384 100644
--- a/command/agent/config_test.go
+++ b/command/agent/config_test.go
@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ func TestDecodeConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// DNS node ttl, max stale
-	input = `{"dns_config": {"allow_stale": true, "enable_truncate": false, "max_stale": "15s", "node_ttl": "5s", "only_passing": true, "udp_answer_limit": 6, "internal_client_timeout": "7s"}}`
+	input = `{"dns_config": {"allow_stale": true, "enable_truncate": false, "max_stale": "15s", "node_ttl": "5s", "only_passing": true, "udp_answer_limit": 6, "recursor_timeout": "7s"}}`
 	config, err = DecodeConfig(bytes.NewReader([]byte(input)))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("err: %s", err)
@@ -568,7 +568,7 @@ func TestDecodeConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	if config.DNSConfig.UDPAnswerLimit != 6 {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", config)
 	}
-	if config.DNSConfig.InternalClientTimeout != 7*time.Second {
+	if config.DNSConfig.RecursorTimeout != 7*time.Second {
 		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", config)
 	}
 
diff --git a/command/agent/dns.go b/command/agent/dns.go
index d062877e77..3d342f3f80 100644
--- a/command/agent/dns.go
+++ b/command/agent/dns.go
@@ -842,7 +842,7 @@ func (d *DNSServer) handleRecurse(resp dns.ResponseWriter, req *dns.Msg) {
 	}
 
 	// Recursively resolve
-	c := &dns.Client{Net: network, Timeout: d.config.InternalClientTimeout}
+	c := &dns.Client{Net: network, Timeout: d.config.RecursorTimeout}
 	var r *dns.Msg
 	var rtt time.Duration
 	var err error
@@ -887,7 +887,7 @@ func (d *DNSServer) resolveCNAME(name string) []dns.RR {
 	m.SetQuestion(name, dns.TypeA)
 
 	// Make a DNS lookup request
-	c := &dns.Client{Net: "udp", Timeout: d.config.InternalClientTimeout}
+	c := &dns.Client{Net: "udp", Timeout: d.config.RecursorTimeout}
 	var r *dns.Msg
 	var rtt time.Duration
 	var err error
diff --git a/command/agent/dns_test.go b/command/agent/dns_test.go
index acda488dc9..016aa0c16d 100644
--- a/command/agent/dns_test.go
+++ b/command/agent/dns_test.go
@@ -1400,14 +1400,14 @@ func TestDNS_Recurse(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestDNS_InternalClientTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+func TestDNS_RecursorTimeout(t *testing.T) {
 	serverClientTimeout := 3 * time.Second
 	testClientTimeout := serverClientTimeout + 5*time.Second
 
 	dir, srv := makeDNSServerConfig(t, func(c *Config) {
 		c.DNSRecursor = "127.0.0.77" // must be an unreachable host
 	}, func(c *DNSConfig) {
-		c.InternalClientTimeout = serverClientTimeout
+		c.RecursorTimeout = serverClientTimeout
 	})
 	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
 	defer srv.agent.Shutdown()