diff --git a/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/http11.py b/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/http11.py
index bdef52eb5..65ac8a5ae 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/http11.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/http11.py
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ class ScrapyAgent(object):
         d.addCallback(self._cb_bodyready, request)
         d.addCallback(self._cb_bodydone, request, url)
         # check download timeout
-        d.addBoth(self._cb_timeout, request, url, timeout)
         self._timeout_cl = reactor.callLater(timeout, d.cancel)
+        d.addBoth(self._cb_timeout, request, url, timeout)
         return d
 
     def _cb_timeout(self, result, request, url, timeout):