diff --git a/pkg/apis/pipeline/v1alpha1/pipelinerun_defaults_test.go b/pkg/apis/pipeline/v1alpha1/pipelinerun_defaults_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d8337125deb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/apis/pipeline/v1alpha1/pipelinerun_defaults_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2019 The Tekton Authors
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package v1alpha1_test
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
+	"github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/pkg/apis/config"
+	"github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/pkg/apis/pipeline/v1alpha1"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+)
+
+func TestPipelineRunSpec_SetDefaults(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		desc string
+		prs  *v1alpha1.PipelineRunSpec
+		want *v1alpha1.PipelineRunSpec
+	}{
+		{
+			desc: "timeout is nil",
+			prs:  &v1alpha1.PipelineRunSpec{},
+			want: &v1alpha1.PipelineRunSpec{
+				Timeout: &metav1.Duration{Duration: config.DefaultTimeoutMinutes * time.Minute},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			desc: "timeout is not nil",
+			prs: &v1alpha1.PipelineRunSpec{
+				Timeout: &metav1.Duration{Duration: 500 * time.Millisecond},
+			},
+			want: &v1alpha1.PipelineRunSpec{
+				Timeout: &metav1.Duration{Duration: 500 * time.Millisecond},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.desc, func(t *testing.T) {
+			ctx := context.Background()
+			tc.prs.SetDefaults(ctx)
+
+			if diff := cmp.Diff(tc.want, tc.prs); diff != "" {
+				t.Errorf("Mismatch of PipelineRunSpec: %s", diff)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/apis/pipeline/v1alpha1/taskrun_defaults_test.go b/pkg/apis/pipeline/v1alpha1/taskrun_defaults_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6ef455ac78f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/apis/pipeline/v1alpha1/taskrun_defaults_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2019 The Tekton Authors
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package v1alpha1_test
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
+	"github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/pkg/apis/config"
+	"github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/pkg/apis/pipeline/v1alpha1"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+)
+
+func TestTaskRunSpec_SetDefaults(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		desc string
+		trs  *v1alpha1.TaskRunSpec
+		want *v1alpha1.TaskRunSpec
+	}{
+		{
+			desc: "taskref is nil",
+			trs: &v1alpha1.TaskRunSpec{
+				TaskRef: nil,
+				Timeout: &metav1.Duration{Duration: 500 * time.Millisecond},
+			},
+			want: &v1alpha1.TaskRunSpec{
+				TaskRef: nil,
+				Timeout: &metav1.Duration{Duration: 500 * time.Millisecond},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			desc: "taskref kind is empty",
+			trs: &v1alpha1.TaskRunSpec{
+				TaskRef: &v1alpha1.TaskRef{},
+				Timeout: &metav1.Duration{Duration: 500 * time.Millisecond},
+			},
+			want: &v1alpha1.TaskRunSpec{
+				TaskRef: &v1alpha1.TaskRef{Kind: v1alpha1.NamespacedTaskKind},
+				Timeout: &metav1.Duration{Duration: 500 * time.Millisecond},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			desc: "timeout is nil",
+			trs: &v1alpha1.TaskRunSpec{
+				TaskRef: &v1alpha1.TaskRef{Kind: v1alpha1.ClusterTaskKind},
+			},
+			want: &v1alpha1.TaskRunSpec{
+				TaskRef: &v1alpha1.TaskRef{Kind: v1alpha1.ClusterTaskKind},
+				Timeout: &metav1.Duration{Duration: config.DefaultTimeoutMinutes * time.Minute},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.desc, func(t *testing.T) {
+			ctx := context.Background()
+			tc.trs.SetDefaults(ctx)
+
+			if diff := cmp.Diff(tc.want, tc.trs); diff != "" {
+				t.Errorf("Mismatch of TaskRunSpec: %s", diff)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}