diff --git a/github/transport.go b/github/transport.go
index 743c9e5de7..d8d714c7d0 100644
--- a/github/transport.go
+++ b/github/transport.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package github
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"io"
 	"log"
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ func (rlt *RateLimitTransport) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, err
 	// for read and write requests. See isWriteMethod for the distinction between them.
 	if rlt.nextRequestDelay > 0 {
 		log.Printf("[DEBUG] Sleeping %s between operations", rlt.nextRequestDelay)
-		time.Sleep(rlt.nextRequestDelay)
+		sleep(req.Context(), rlt.nextRequestDelay)
 	}
 
 	rlt.nextRequestDelay = rlt.calculateNextDelay(req.Method)
@@ -82,6 +83,7 @@ func (rlt *RateLimitTransport) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, err
 	// See https://github.com/google/go-github/pull/986
 	r1, r2, err := drainBody(resp.Body)
 	if err != nil {
+		rlt.smartLock(false)
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	resp.Body = r1
@@ -95,7 +97,7 @@ func (rlt *RateLimitTransport) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, err
 		retryAfter := arlErr.GetRetryAfter()
 		log.Printf("[WARN] Abuse detection mechanism triggered, sleeping for %s before retrying",
 			retryAfter)
-		time.Sleep(retryAfter)
+		sleep(req.Context(), retryAfter)
 		rlt.smartLock(false)
 		return rlt.RoundTrip(req)
 	}
@@ -106,7 +108,7 @@ func (rlt *RateLimitTransport) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, err
 		retryAfter := time.Until(rlErr.Rate.Reset.Time)
 		log.Printf("[WARN] Rate limit %d reached, sleeping for %s (until %s) before retrying",
 			rlErr.Rate.Limit, retryAfter, time.Now().Add(retryAfter))
-		time.Sleep(retryAfter)
+		sleep(req.Context(), retryAfter)
 		rlt.smartLock(false)
 		return rlt.RoundTrip(req)
 	}
@@ -116,6 +118,17 @@ func (rlt *RateLimitTransport) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, err
 	return resp, nil
 }
 
+// sleep is used an alternative to time.Sleep that supports cancellation via the passed context.Context.
+func sleep(ctx context.Context, dur time.Duration) {
+	t := time.NewTimer(dur)
+	defer t.Stop()
+
+	select {
+	case <-t.C:
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+	}
+}
+
 // smartLock wraps the mutex locking system and performs its operation via a boolean input for locking and unlocking.
 // It also skips the locking when parallelRequests is set to true since, in this case, the lock is not needed.
 func (rlt *RateLimitTransport) smartLock(lock bool) {
diff --git a/github/transport_test.go b/github/transport_test.go
index fab8242a29..042a73602c 100644
--- a/github/transport_test.go
+++ b/github/transport_test.go
@@ -160,6 +160,42 @@ func TestRateLimitTransport_abuseLimit_get(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestRateLimitTransport_abuseLimit_get_cancelled(t *testing.T) {
+	ts := githubApiMock([]*mockResponse{
+		{
+			ExpectedUri: "/repos/test/blah",
+			ResponseBody: `{
+  "message": "You have triggered an abuse detection mechanism and have been temporarily blocked from content creation. Please retry your request again later.",
+  "documentation_url": "https://developer.github.com/v3/#abuse-rate-limits"
+}`,
+			StatusCode: 403,
+			ResponseHeaders: map[string]string{
+				"Retry-After": "10",
+			},
+		},
+	})
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	httpClient := http.DefaultClient
+	httpClient.Transport = NewRateLimitTransport(http.DefaultTransport)
+
+	client := github.NewClient(httpClient)
+	u, _ := url.Parse(ts.URL + "/")
+	client.BaseURL = u
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(t.Context(), 100*time.Millisecond)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	start := time.Now()
+	_, _, err := client.Repositories.Get(ctx, "test", "blah")
+	if !errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected context deadline exceeded, got: %v", err)
+	}
+	if time.Since(start) > time.Second {
+		t.Fatalf("Waited for longer than expected: %s", time.Since(start))
+	}
+}
+
 func TestRateLimitTransport_abuseLimit_post(t *testing.T) {
 	ts := githubApiMock([]*mockResponse{
 		{