diff --git a/admin/settings/server.php b/admin/settings/server.php
index 4b0f42787a0..0d552177391 100644
--- a/admin/settings/server.php
+++ b/admin/settings/server.php
@@ -44,15 +44,10 @@ $temp = new admin_settingpage('sessionhandling', new lang_string('sessionhandlin
 if (empty($CFG->session_handler_class) and $DB->session_lock_supported()) {
     $temp->add(new admin_setting_configcheckbox('dbsessions', new lang_string('dbsessions', 'admin'), new lang_string('configdbsessions', 'admin'), 0));
 }
-$temp->add(new admin_setting_configselect('sessiontimeout', new lang_string('sessiontimeout', 'admin'), new lang_string('configsessiontimeout', 'admin'), 7200, array(14400 => new lang_string('numhours', '', 4),
-                                                                                                                                                      10800 => new lang_string('numhours', '', 3),
-                                                                                                                                                      7200 => new lang_string('numhours', '', 2),
-                                                                                                                                                      5400 => new lang_string('numhours', '', '1.5'),
-                                                                                                                                                      3600 => new lang_string('numminutes', '', 60),
-                                                                                                                                                      2700 => new lang_string('numminutes', '', 45),
-                                                                                                                                                      1800 => new lang_string('numminutes', '', 30),
-                                                                                                                                                      900 => new lang_string('numminutes', '', 15),
-                                                                                                                                                      300 => new lang_string('numminutes', '', 5))));
+
+$temp->add(new admin_setting_configduration('sessiontimeout', new lang_string('sessiontimeout', 'admin'),
+    new lang_string('configsessiontimeout', 'admin'), 8 * 60 * 60));
+
 $temp->add(new admin_setting_configtext('sessioncookie', new lang_string('sessioncookie', 'admin'), new lang_string('configsessioncookie', 'admin'), '', PARAM_ALPHANUM));
 $temp->add(new admin_setting_configtext('sessioncookiepath', new lang_string('sessioncookiepath', 'admin'), new lang_string('configsessioncookiepath', 'admin'), '', PARAM_RAW));
 $temp->add(new admin_setting_configtext('sessioncookiedomain', new lang_string('sessioncookiedomain', 'admin'), new lang_string('configsessioncookiedomain', 'admin'), '', PARAM_RAW, 50));
diff --git a/lib/db/install.php b/lib/db/install.php
index be9692da0f3..0722a2aa92c 100644
--- a/lib/db/install.php
+++ b/lib/db/install.php
@@ -125,8 +125,8 @@ function xmldb_main_install() {
         'backup_version'        => 2008111700,
         'backup_release'        => '2.0 dev',
         'mnet_dispatcher_mode'  => 'off',
-        'sessiontimeout'        => 7200, // must be present during roles installation
-        'stringfilters'         => '', // These two are managed in a strange way by the filters
+        'sessiontimeout'        => 8 * 60 * 60, // Must be present during roles installation.
+        'stringfilters'         => '', // These two are managed in a strange way by the filters.
         'filterall'             => 0, // setting page, so have to be initialised here.
         'texteditors'           => 'atto,tinymce,textarea',
         'antiviruses'           => '',
diff --git a/lib/setup.php b/lib/setup.php
index b734e7c66e7..e37a08e9c05 100644
--- a/lib/setup.php
+++ b/lib/setup.php
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ if (CLI_SCRIPT) {
 
 // Start session and prepare global $SESSION, $USER.
 if (empty($CFG->sessiontimeout)) {
-    $CFG->sessiontimeout = 7200;
+    $CFG->sessiontimeout = 8 * 60 * 60;
 }
 \core\session\manager::start();
 
diff --git a/lib/upgrade.txt b/lib/upgrade.txt
index 65cac74a973..dcb5e826b3e 100644
--- a/lib/upgrade.txt
+++ b/lib/upgrade.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ information provided here is intended especially for developers.
   which means auto-detecting number of decimal points.
 * plagiarism_save_form_elements() has been deprecated. Please use {plugin name}_coursemodule_edit_post_actions() instead.
 * plagiarism_get_form_elements_module() has been deprecated. Please use {plugin name}_coursemodule_standard_elements() instead.
+* Changed default sessiontimeout to 8 hours to cover most normal working days
 
 === 3.8 ===
 * Add CLI option to notify all cron tasks to stop: admin/cli/cron.php --stop