diff --git a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/README.md b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/README.md
index 566ba787c..e3319b4ce 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/README.md
+++ b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/README.md
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ node_ssh_pause: The amount of time, defaulted to 4 seconds, to pause
                 useeful if the test image has a tendency to have
                 networking restart after sshd has started.
 
+wait_timeout: The number of seconds to wait for SSH connectivity to
+              the test machine to be established before proceeding.
+
 Dependencies
 ------------
 
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/defaults/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/defaults/main.yml
index 50a373825..53ee3dccf 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/defaults/main.yml
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 ---
 node_ssh_pause: 10
+wait_timeout: 900
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/tasks/main.yml b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/tasks/main.yml
index 622cd16ec..1b17e7662 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/bifrost-prepare-for-test-dynamic/tasks/main.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 ---
 - name: "Waiting for the base testvm machine to become available."
-  wait_for: state=started port=22 host={{ ipv4_address }} timeout=900
+  wait_for: state=started port=22 host={{ ipv4_address }} timeout={{ wait_timeout }}
   when: ipv4_address is defined
 - name: "Pausing for 4 seconds to allow testvm to become fully operational and to avoid any potential sshd startup race."
   # NOTE(TheJulia): AFAIK sshd opens it's socket and then loads/generates