diff --git a/docs/settings.md b/docs/settings.md
index 0ba2317d..8bf9db73 100644
--- a/docs/settings.md
+++ b/docs/settings.md
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ REST_KNOX = {
   'USER_SERIALIZER': 'knox.serializers.UserSerializer',
   'TOKEN_LIMIT_PER_USER': None,
   'AUTO_REFRESH': False,
+  'AUTO_REFRESH_MAX_TTL': None,
   'MIN_REFRESH_INTERVAL': 60,
   'AUTH_HEADER_PREFIX': 'Token',
   'EXPIRY_DATETIME_FORMAT': api_settings.DATETIME_FORMAT,
@@ -78,6 +79,11 @@ successfully returning from `LoginView`. The default is `knox.serializers.UserSe
 This defines if the token expiry time is extended by TOKEN_TTL each time the token
 is used.
 
+## AUTO_REFRESH_MAX_TTL
+When automatically extending token expiry time, limit the total token lifetime. If
+AUTO_REFRESH_MAX_TTL is set, then the token lifetime since the original creation date cannot
+exceed AUTO_REFRESH_MAX_TTL.
+
 ## MIN_REFRESH_INTERVAL
 This is the minimum time in seconds that needs to pass for the token expiry to be updated
 in the database.
diff --git a/knox/auth.py b/knox/auth.py
index 858ee504..f02576a3 100644
--- a/knox/auth.py
+++ b/knox/auth.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import binascii
+import logging
 from hmac import compare_digest
 
 from django.utils import timezone
@@ -13,6 +14,8 @@
 from knox.settings import CONSTANTS, knox_settings
 from knox.signals import token_expired
 
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
 
 class TokenAuthentication(BaseAuthentication):
     '''
@@ -74,7 +77,16 @@ def authenticate_credentials(self, token):
     def renew_token(self, auth_token) -> None:
         current_expiry = auth_token.expiry
         new_expiry = timezone.now() + knox_settings.TOKEN_TTL
+
+        # Do not auto-renew tokens past AUTO_REFRESH_MAX_TTL.
+        if knox_settings.AUTO_REFRESH_MAX_TTL is not None:
+            max_expiry = auth_token.created + knox_settings.AUTO_REFRESH_MAX_TTL
+            if new_expiry > max_expiry:
+                new_expiry = max_expiry
+                logger.info('Token renewal truncated due to AUTO_REFRESH_MAX_TTL.')
+
         auth_token.expiry = new_expiry
+
         # Throttle refreshing of token to avoid db writes
         delta = (new_expiry - current_expiry).total_seconds()
         if delta > knox_settings.MIN_REFRESH_INTERVAL:
diff --git a/knox/settings.py b/knox/settings.py
index a2c3d9c8..2bb6fa7a 100644
--- a/knox/settings.py
+++ b/knox/settings.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
     'USER_SERIALIZER': None,
     'TOKEN_LIMIT_PER_USER': None,
     'AUTO_REFRESH': False,
+    'AUTO_REFRESH_MAX_TTL': None,
     'MIN_REFRESH_INTERVAL': 60,
     'AUTH_HEADER_PREFIX': 'Token',
     'EXPIRY_DATETIME_FORMAT': api_settings.DATETIME_FORMAT,
diff --git a/tests/tests.py b/tests/tests.py
index 9494db0b..b91e8ecf 100644
--- a/tests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/tests.py
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ def get_basic_auth_header(username, password):
 auto_refresh_knox = knox_settings.defaults.copy()
 auto_refresh_knox["AUTO_REFRESH"] = True
 
+auto_refresh_max_ttl_knox = auto_refresh_knox.copy()
+auto_refresh_max_ttl_knox["AUTO_REFRESH_MAX_TTL"] = timedelta(hours=12)
+
 token_user_limit_knox = knox_settings.defaults.copy()
 token_user_limit_knox["TOKEN_LIMIT_PER_USER"] = 10
 
@@ -318,6 +321,36 @@ def test_token_expiry_is_not_extended_within_MIN_REFRESH_INTERVAL(self):
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
         self.assertEqual(original_expiry, AuthToken.objects.get().expiry)
 
+    def test_token_expiry_is_not_extended_past_max_ttl(self):
+        ttl = knox_settings.TOKEN_TTL
+        self.assertEqual(ttl, timedelta(hours=10))
+        original_time = datetime(2018, 7, 25, 0, 0, 0, 0)
+
+        with freeze_time(original_time):
+            instance, token = AuthToken.objects.create(user=self.user)
+
+        self.client.credentials(HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=('Token %s' % token))
+        five_hours_later = original_time + timedelta(hours=5)
+        with override_settings(REST_KNOX=auto_refresh_max_ttl_knox):
+            reload(auth)  # necessary to reload settings in core code
+            self.assertEqual(auth.knox_settings.AUTO_REFRESH, True)
+            self.assertEqual(auth.knox_settings.AUTO_REFRESH_MAX_TTL, timedelta(hours=12))
+            with freeze_time(five_hours_later):
+                response = self.client.get(root_url, {}, format='json')
+        reload(auth)  # necessary to reload settings in core code
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 200)
+
+        # original expiry date was extended, but not past max_ttl:
+        new_expiry = AuthToken.objects.get().expiry
+        expected_expiry = original_time + timedelta(hours=12)
+        self.assertEqual(new_expiry.replace(tzinfo=None), expected_expiry,
+                         "Expiry time should have been extended to {} but is {}."
+                         .format(expected_expiry, new_expiry))
+
+        with freeze_time(expected_expiry + timedelta(seconds=1)):
+            response = self.client.get(root_url, {}, format='json')
+            self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 401)
+
     def test_expiry_signals(self):
         self.signal_was_called = False