diff --git a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/README.md b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/README.md
index b1c0b6bab..17c4ab62b 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/README.md
+++ b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/README.md
@@ -126,8 +126,11 @@ See the [CONFIGURATION.md][CONFIGURATION.md] for more details.
   # http_headers = {"X-Special-Header" = "Special-Value"}
 
   ## Specify timeout duration for slower prometheus clients (default is 3s)
+  # timeout = "3s"
+  
+  ##   deprecated in 1.26; use the timeout option
   # response_timeout = "3s"
-
+  
   ## HTTP Proxy support
   # use_system_proxy = false
   # http_proxy_url = ""
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus.go b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus.go
index edf35bcae..407b964c1 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus.go
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ type Prometheus struct {
 
 	HTTPHeaders map[string]string `toml:"http_headers"`
 
-	ResponseTimeout config.Duration `toml:"response_timeout"`
+	ResponseTimeout config.Duration `toml:"response_timeout" deprecated:"1.26.0;use 'timeout' instead"`
+	Timeout         config.Duration `toml:"timeout"`
 
 	MetricVersion int `toml:"metric_version"`
 
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus_test.go b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus_test.go
index caa75ba38..376a776d3 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus_test.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/prometheus_test.go
@@ -196,6 +196,59 @@ func TestPrometheusGeneratesMetricsSlowEndpointHitTheTimeout(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Error(t, err)
 }
 
+func TestPrometheusGeneratesMetricsSlowEndpointNewConfigParameter(t *testing.T) {
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		time.Sleep(4 * time.Second)
+		_, err := fmt.Fprintln(w, sampleTextFormat)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+	}))
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	p := &Prometheus{
+		Log:     testutil.Logger{},
+		URLs:    []string{ts.URL},
+		URLTag:  "url",
+		Timeout: config.Duration(time.Second * 5),
+	}
+	err := p.Init()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	var acc testutil.Accumulator
+
+	err = acc.GatherError(p.Gather)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.True(t, acc.HasFloatField("go_gc_duration_seconds", "count"))
+	require.True(t, acc.HasFloatField("go_goroutines", "gauge"))
+	require.True(t, acc.HasFloatField("test_metric", "value"))
+	require.True(t, acc.HasTimestamp("test_metric", time.Unix(1490802350, 0)))
+	require.False(t, acc.HasTag("test_metric", "address"))
+	require.True(t, acc.TagValue("test_metric", "url") == ts.URL+"/metrics")
+}
+
+func TestPrometheusGeneratesMetricsSlowEndpointHitTheTimeoutNewConfigParameter(t *testing.T) {
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		time.Sleep(6 * time.Second)
+		_, err := fmt.Fprintln(w, sampleTextFormat)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+	}))
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	p := &Prometheus{
+		Log:     testutil.Logger{},
+		URLs:    []string{ts.URL},
+		URLTag:  "url",
+		Timeout: config.Duration(time.Second * 5),
+	}
+	err := p.Init()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	var acc testutil.Accumulator
+
+	err = acc.GatherError(p.Gather)
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "error making HTTP request to "+ts.URL+"/metrics")
+}
+
 func TestPrometheusGeneratesSummaryMetricsV2(t *testing.T) {
 	ts := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		_, err := fmt.Fprintln(w, sampleSummaryTextFormat)
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/sample.conf b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/sample.conf
index 3ddee6be4..b133219fe 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/prometheus/sample.conf
+++ b/plugins/inputs/prometheus/sample.conf
@@ -109,8 +109,11 @@
   # http_headers = {"X-Special-Header" = "Special-Value"}
 
   ## Specify timeout duration for slower prometheus clients (default is 3s)
+  # timeout = "3s"
+  
+  ##   deprecated in 1.26; use the timeout option
   # response_timeout = "3s"
-
+  
   ## HTTP Proxy support
   # use_system_proxy = false
   # http_proxy_url = ""