diff --git a/backend/posix/posix.go b/backend/posix/posix.go
index 9b5ab5d..834d314 100644
--- a/backend/posix/posix.go
+++ b/backend/posix/posix.go
@@ -2013,7 +2013,7 @@ func (p *Posix) CopyObject(ctx context.Context, input *s3.CopyObjectInput) (*s3.
 	}, nil
 }
 
-func (p *Posix) ListObjects(_ context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsInput) (*s3.ListObjectsOutput, error) {
+func (p *Posix) ListObjects(ctx context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsInput) (*s3.ListObjectsOutput, error) {
 	if input.Bucket == nil {
 		return nil, s3err.GetAPIError(s3err.ErrInvalidBucketName)
 	}
@@ -2044,7 +2044,7 @@ func (p *Posix) ListObjects(_ context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsInput) (*s3.
 	}
 
 	fileSystem := os.DirFS(bucket)
-	results, err := backend.Walk(fileSystem, prefix, delim, marker, maxkeys,
+	results, err := backend.Walk(ctx, fileSystem, prefix, delim, marker, maxkeys,
 		p.fileToObj(bucket), []string{metaTmpDir})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("walk %v: %w", bucket, err)
@@ -2126,7 +2126,7 @@ func (p *Posix) fileToObj(bucket string) backend.GetObjFunc {
 	}
 }
 
-func (p *Posix) ListObjectsV2(_ context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsV2Input) (*s3.ListObjectsV2Output, error) {
+func (p *Posix) ListObjectsV2(ctx context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsV2Input) (*s3.ListObjectsV2Output, error) {
 	if input.Bucket == nil {
 		return nil, s3err.GetAPIError(s3err.ErrInvalidBucketName)
 	}
@@ -2165,7 +2165,7 @@ func (p *Posix) ListObjectsV2(_ context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsV2Input) (
 	}
 
 	fileSystem := os.DirFS(bucket)
-	results, err := backend.Walk(fileSystem, prefix, delim, marker, maxkeys,
+	results, err := backend.Walk(ctx, fileSystem, prefix, delim, marker, maxkeys,
 		p.fileToObj(bucket), []string{metaTmpDir})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("walk %v: %w", bucket, err)
diff --git a/backend/scoutfs/scoutfs.go b/backend/scoutfs/scoutfs.go
index 606475f..5ef1979 100644
--- a/backend/scoutfs/scoutfs.go
+++ b/backend/scoutfs/scoutfs.go
@@ -714,7 +714,7 @@ func (s *ScoutFS) getXattrTags(bucket, object string) (map[string]string, error)
 	return tags, nil
 }
 
-func (s *ScoutFS) ListObjects(_ context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsInput) (*s3.ListObjectsOutput, error) {
+func (s *ScoutFS) ListObjects(ctx context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsInput) (*s3.ListObjectsOutput, error) {
 	if input.Bucket == nil {
 		return nil, s3err.GetAPIError(s3err.ErrInvalidBucketName)
 	}
@@ -745,7 +745,7 @@ func (s *ScoutFS) ListObjects(_ context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsInput) (*s
 	}
 
 	fileSystem := os.DirFS(bucket)
-	results, err := backend.Walk(fileSystem, prefix, delim, marker, maxkeys,
+	results, err := backend.Walk(ctx, fileSystem, prefix, delim, marker, maxkeys,
 		s.fileToObj(bucket), []string{metaTmpDir})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("walk %v: %w", bucket, err)
@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ func (s *ScoutFS) ListObjects(_ context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsInput) (*s
 	}, nil
 }
 
-func (s *ScoutFS) ListObjectsV2(_ context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsV2Input) (*s3.ListObjectsV2Output, error) {
+func (s *ScoutFS) ListObjectsV2(ctx context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsV2Input) (*s3.ListObjectsV2Output, error) {
 	if input.Bucket == nil {
 		return nil, s3err.GetAPIError(s3err.ErrInvalidBucketName)
 	}
@@ -795,7 +795,7 @@ func (s *ScoutFS) ListObjectsV2(_ context.Context, input *s3.ListObjectsV2Input)
 	}
 
 	fileSystem := os.DirFS(bucket)
-	results, err := backend.Walk(fileSystem, prefix, delim, marker, int32(maxkeys),
+	results, err := backend.Walk(ctx, fileSystem, prefix, delim, marker, int32(maxkeys),
 		s.fileToObj(bucket), []string{metaTmpDir})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("walk %v: %w", bucket, err)
diff --git a/backend/walk.go b/backend/walk.go
index d34c223..157522a 100644
--- a/backend/walk.go
+++ b/backend/walk.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 package backend
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/fs"
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ var ErrSkipObj = errors.New("skip this object")
 
 // Walk walks the supplied fs.FS and returns results compatible with list
 // objects responses
-func Walk(fileSystem fs.FS, prefix, delimiter, marker string, max int32, getObj GetObjFunc, skipdirs []string) (WalkResults, error) {
+func Walk(ctx context.Context, fileSystem fs.FS, prefix, delimiter, marker string, max int32, getObj GetObjFunc, skipdirs []string) (WalkResults, error) {
 	cpmap := make(map[string]struct{})
 	var objects []types.Object
 
@@ -55,6 +56,9 @@ func Walk(fileSystem fs.FS, prefix, delimiter, marker string, max int32, getObj
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		if ctx.Err() != nil {
+			return ctx.Err()
+		}
 		// Ignore the root directory
 		if path == "." {
 			return nil
diff --git a/backend/walk_test.go b/backend/walk_test.go
index a7b4b82..19f0315 100644
--- a/backend/walk_test.go
+++ b/backend/walk_test.go
@@ -15,12 +15,15 @@
 package backend_test
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"crypto/md5"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/fs"
+	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"testing/fstest"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/service/s3/types"
 	"github.com/versity/versitygw/backend"
@@ -108,7 +111,7 @@ func TestWalk(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
-		res, err := backend.Walk(tt.fsys, "", "/", "", 1000, tt.getobj, []string{})
+		res, err := backend.Walk(context.Background(), tt.fsys, "", "/", "", 1000, tt.getobj, []string{})
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("walk: %v", err)
 		}
@@ -204,3 +207,50 @@ func printObjects(list []types.Object) string {
 	}
 	return res + "]"
 }
+
+type slowFS struct {
+	fstest.MapFS
+}
+
+const (
+	readDirPause = 100 * time.Millisecond
+
+	// walkTimeOut should be less than the tree traversal time
+	// which is the readdirPause time * the number of directories
+	walkTimeOut = 500 * time.Millisecond
+)
+
+func (s *slowFS) ReadDir(name string) ([]fs.DirEntry, error) {
+	time.Sleep(readDirPause)
+	return s.MapFS.ReadDir(name)
+}
+
+func TestWalkStop(t *testing.T) {
+	s := &slowFS{MapFS: fstest.MapFS{
+		"/a/b/c/d/e/f/g/h/i/g/k/l/m/n": &fstest.MapFile{},
+	}}
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), walkTimeOut)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	var err error
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer wg.Done()
+		_, err = backend.Walk(ctx, s, "", "/", "", 1000,
+			func(path string, d fs.DirEntry) (types.Object, error) {
+				return types.Object{}, nil
+			}, []string{})
+	}()
+
+	select {
+	case <-time.After(1 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatalf("walk is not terminated in time")
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+	}
+	wg.Wait()
+	if err != ctx.Err() {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+}