diff --git a/hack/lib/util.sh b/hack/lib/util.sh
index e51b7c7eea..0a5f5844bc 100755
--- a/hack/lib/util.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/util.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ kube::util::wait_for_url() {
   local prefix=${2:-}
   local wait=${3:-1}
   local times=${4:-30}
+  local maxtime=${5:-1}
 
   which curl >/dev/null || {
     kube::log::usage "curl must be installed"
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ kube::util::wait_for_url() {
   local i
   for i in $(seq 1 "$times"); do
     local out
-    if out=$(curl --max-time 1 -gkfs "$url" 2>/dev/null); then
+    if out=$(curl --max-time "$maxtime" -gkfs "$url" 2>/dev/null); then
       kube::log::status "On try ${i}, ${prefix}: ${out}"
       return 0
     fi
diff --git a/hack/local-up-cluster.sh b/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
index 0d762d491b..3b0d33b2c6 100755
--- a/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
+++ b/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ DNS_SERVER_IP=${KUBE_DNS_SERVER_IP:-10.0.0.10}
 DNS_DOMAIN=${KUBE_DNS_NAME:-"cluster.local"}
 KUBECTL=${KUBECTL:-cluster/kubectl.sh}
 WAIT_FOR_URL_API_SERVER=${WAIT_FOR_URL_API_SERVER:-60}
+MAX_TIME_FOR_URL_API_SERVER=${MAX_TIME_FOR_URL_API_SERVER:-1}
 ENABLE_DAEMON=${ENABLE_DAEMON:-false}
 HOSTNAME_OVERRIDE=${HOSTNAME_OVERRIDE:-"127.0.0.1"}
 EXTERNAL_CLOUD_PROVIDER=${EXTERNAL_CLOUD_PROVIDER:-false}
@@ -582,7 +583,7 @@ function start_apiserver {
 
     # Wait for kube-apiserver to come up before launching the rest of the components.
     echo "Waiting for apiserver to come up"
-    kube::util::wait_for_url "https://${API_HOST_IP}:${API_SECURE_PORT}/healthz" "apiserver: " 1 ${WAIT_FOR_URL_API_SERVER} \
+    kube::util::wait_for_url "https://${API_HOST_IP}:${API_SECURE_PORT}/healthz" "apiserver: " 1 ${WAIT_FOR_URL_API_SERVER} ${MAX_TIME_FOR_URL_API_SERVER} \
         || { echo "check apiserver logs: ${APISERVER_LOG}" ; exit 1 ; }
 
     # Create kubeconfigs for all components, using client certs