diff -r 40e97c9dae7a Doc/library/timeit.rst
--- a/Doc/library/timeit.rst	Tue Oct 18 17:55:18 2016 +0200
+++ b/Doc/library/timeit.rst	Tue Oct 18 18:09:12 2016 +0200
@@ -141,8 +141,8 @@ The module defines three convenience fun
        This is a convenience function that calls :meth:`.timeit` repeatedly
        so that the total time >= 0.2 second, returning the eventual
        (number of loops, time taken for that number of loops). It calls
-       :meth:`.timeit` with *number* set to successive powers of ten (10,
-       100, 1000, ...) up to a maximum of one billion, until the time taken
+       :meth:`.timeit` with *number* set to successive powers of two
+       (1, 2, 4, 8, ...) up to a maximum of ``2**30``, until the time taken
        is at least 0.2 second, or the maximum is reached.
 
         If *callback* is given and is not *None*, it will be called after
diff -r 40e97c9dae7a Lib/timeit.py
--- a/Lib/timeit.py	Tue Oct 18 17:55:18 2016 +0200
+++ b/Lib/timeit.py	Tue Oct 18 18:09:12 2016 +0200
@@ -209,15 +209,15 @@ class Timer:
         """Return the number of loops so that total time >= 0.2.
 
         Calls the timeit method with *number* set to successive powers of
-        ten (10, 100, 1000, ...) up to a maximum of one billion, until
+        two (1, 2, 4, 8, ...) up to a maximum of 2**30, until
         the time taken is at least 0.2 second, or the maximum is reached.
         Returns ``(number, time_taken)``.
 
         If *callback* is given and is not None, it will be called after
         each trial with two arguments: ``callback(number, time_taken)``.
         """
-        for i in range(0, 10):
-            number = 10**i
+        for i in range(0, 31):
+            number = 2 ** i
             time_taken = self.timeit(number)
             if callback:
                 callback(number, time_taken)