diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d14d9ae..facfb02 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -14,19 +14,19 @@ datastore trio (`redis` / `psql` / `mysql`), a sibling of the `mongo` lib.
 `requirements.txt`:
 
 ```
-redis_store @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/redis.git@v0.1.1
+redis_store @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/redis.git@v0.1.2
 ```
 
 Direct:
 
 ```bash
-pip install "redis_store @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/redis.git@v0.1.1"
+pip install "redis_store @ git+ssh://git@git.rethinkstudios.io/rethink-public/redis.git@v0.1.2"
 ```
 
 Pulls `redis>=5` (redis-py, which ships the asyncio client — **not** the dead standalone
 `aioredis`).
 
-Drop the `@v0.1.1` suffix from the line above to install the latest unpinned.
+Drop the `@v0.1.2` suffix from the line above to install the latest unpinned.
 
 ## Usage
 
@@ -62,6 +62,10 @@ One client/pool per process — build it once, attach it to your app (`app.kv =
 `None` for an absent key). Pass `decode_responses=False` at construction for raw `bytes`.
 Counters and counts (`incr`/`decr`/`exists`/`ttl`) always return `int` regardless.
 
+Pool sizing/timeout are `max_connections=` and `pool_timeout=` (how long a caller waits for
+a free connection when the pool is saturated). Pass the driver's own `timeout=` in
+`pool_kwargs` and construction raises a clear `ValueError` — use `pool_timeout=`.
+
 ## Error contract — fail loud
 
 Unlike the `mongo` lib (which log-and-swallows, returning a safe default), **this lib
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index eb6ab9b..4c7c851 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "redis_store"
-version = "0.1.1"
+version = "0.1.2"
 description = "async redis wrapper over redis-py asyncio with a raw escape hatch, fail-loud and config-free"
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 dependencies = [
diff --git a/src/redis_store/redis_store.py b/src/redis_store/redis_store.py
index 6f52ac8..c892bfc 100644
--- a/src/redis_store/redis_store.py
+++ b/src/redis_store/redis_store.py
@@ -71,7 +71,16 @@ class RedisDB:
         max_connections, callers WAIT up to pool_timeout seconds for a free connection
         (matching motor/mongo's blocking pool) rather than the plain pool's behavior of
         raising MaxConnectionsError immediately. pool_timeout=None waits forever.
+
+        `timeout` is the pool's own kwarg (set from pool_timeout here), so passing it in
+        pool_kwargs would collide — reject it with a clear pointer rather than let the
+        driver raise a cryptic "multiple values for 'timeout'".
         """
+        if "timeout" in pool_kwargs:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "redis_store: pass the pool wait timeout as pool_timeout=, not timeout= "
+                "(timeout is filled from pool_timeout)"
+            )
         self._pool = redis.BlockingConnectionPool(
             host=host,
             port=port,