diff --git a/builder/builder.go b/builder/builder.go
index d82af210..2bb83a44 100644
--- a/builder/builder.go
+++ b/builder/builder.go
@@ -344,6 +344,7 @@ type CreateOpts struct {
 	Use                 bool
 	Endpoint            string
 	Append              bool
+	Timeout             time.Duration
 }
 
 func Create(ctx context.Context, txn *store.Txn, dockerCli command.Cli, opts CreateOpts) (*Builder, error) {
@@ -524,7 +525,7 @@ func Create(ctx context.Context, txn *store.Txn, dockerCli command.Cli, opts Cre
 	}
 
 	cancelCtx, cancel := context.WithCancelCause(ctx)
-	timeoutCtx, _ := context.WithTimeoutCause(cancelCtx, 20*time.Second, errors.WithStack(context.DeadlineExceeded)) //nolint:govet,lostcancel // no need to manually cancel this context as we already rely on parent
+	timeoutCtx, _ := context.WithTimeoutCause(cancelCtx, opts.Timeout, errors.WithStack(context.DeadlineExceeded)) //nolint:govet,lostcancel // no need to manually cancel this context as we already rely on parent
 	defer func() { cancel(errors.WithStack(context.Canceled)) }()
 
 	nodes, err := b.LoadNodes(timeoutCtx, WithData())
diff --git a/commands/create.go b/commands/create.go
index 5cc90e72..164ee4a9 100644
--- a/commands/create.go
+++ b/commands/create.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/docker/buildx/builder"
 	"github.com/docker/buildx/driver"
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ type createOptions struct {
 	buildkitdFlags      string
 	buildkitdConfigFile string
 	bootstrap           bool
+	timeout             time.Duration
 	// upgrade      bool // perform upgrade of the driver
 }
 
@@ -61,6 +63,7 @@ func runCreate(ctx context.Context, dockerCli command.Cli, in createOptions, arg
 		Use:                 in.use,
 		Endpoint:            ep,
 		Append:              in.actionAppend,
+		Timeout:             in.timeout,
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -80,7 +83,7 @@ func runCreate(ctx context.Context, dockerCli command.Cli, in createOptions, arg
 	return nil
 }
 
-func createCmd(dockerCli command.Cli) *cobra.Command {
+func createCmd(dockerCli command.Cli, rootOpts *rootOptions) *cobra.Command {
 	var options createOptions
 
 	var drivers bytes.Buffer
@@ -96,6 +99,7 @@ func createCmd(dockerCli command.Cli) *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "Create a new builder instance",
 		Args:  cli.RequiresMaxArgs(1),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			options.timeout = rootOpts.timeout
 			return runCreate(cmd.Context(), dockerCli, options, args)
 		},
 		ValidArgsFunction: completion.Disable,
diff --git a/commands/inspect.go b/commands/inspect.go
index eeae99ea..e9cb5020 100644
--- a/commands/inspect.go
+++ b/commands/inspect.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 type inspectOptions struct {
 	bootstrap bool
 	builder   string
+	timeout   time.Duration
 }
 
 func runInspect(ctx context.Context, dockerCli command.Cli, in inspectOptions) error {
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ func runInspect(ctx context.Context, dockerCli command.Cli, in inspectOptions) e
 	}
 
 	timeoutCtx, cancel := context.WithCancelCause(ctx)
-	timeoutCtx, _ = context.WithTimeoutCause(timeoutCtx, 20*time.Second, errors.WithStack(context.DeadlineExceeded)) //nolint:govet,lostcancel // no need to manually cancel this context as we already rely on parent
+	timeoutCtx, _ = context.WithTimeoutCause(timeoutCtx, in.timeout, errors.WithStack(context.DeadlineExceeded)) //nolint:govet,lostcancel // no need to manually cancel this context as we already rely on parent
 	defer func() { cancel(errors.WithStack(context.Canceled)) }()
 
 	nodes, err := b.LoadNodes(timeoutCtx, builder.WithData())
@@ -180,6 +181,7 @@ func inspectCmd(dockerCli command.Cli, rootOpts *rootOptions) *cobra.Command {
 			if len(args) > 0 {
 				options.builder = args[0]
 			}
+			options.timeout = rootOpts.timeout
 			return runInspect(cmd.Context(), dockerCli, options)
 		},
 		ValidArgsFunction: completion.BuilderNames(dockerCli),
diff --git a/commands/ls.go b/commands/ls.go
index 8c247679..fe78c857 100644
--- a/commands/ls.go
+++ b/commands/ls.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ const (
 type lsOptions struct {
 	format  string
 	noTrunc bool
+	timeout time.Duration
 }
 
 func runLs(ctx context.Context, dockerCli command.Cli, in lsOptions) error {
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ func runLs(ctx context.Context, dockerCli command.Cli, in lsOptions) error {
 	}
 
 	timeoutCtx, cancel := context.WithCancelCause(ctx)
-	timeoutCtx, _ = context.WithTimeoutCause(timeoutCtx, 20*time.Second, errors.WithStack(context.DeadlineExceeded)) //nolint:govet,lostcancel // no need to manually cancel this context as we already rely on parent
+	timeoutCtx, _ = context.WithTimeoutCause(timeoutCtx, in.timeout, errors.WithStack(context.DeadlineExceeded)) //nolint:govet,lostcancel // no need to manually cancel this context as we already rely on parent
 	defer func() { cancel(errors.WithStack(context.Canceled)) }()
 
 	eg, _ := errgroup.WithContext(timeoutCtx)
@@ -97,7 +98,7 @@ func runLs(ctx context.Context, dockerCli command.Cli, in lsOptions) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func lsCmd(dockerCli command.Cli) *cobra.Command {
+func lsCmd(dockerCli command.Cli, rootOpts *rootOptions) *cobra.Command {
 	var options lsOptions
 
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
@@ -105,6 +106,7 @@ func lsCmd(dockerCli command.Cli) *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "List builder instances",
 		Args:  cli.ExactArgs(0),
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			options.timeout = rootOpts.timeout
 			return runLs(cmd.Context(), dockerCli, options)
 		},
 		ValidArgsFunction: completion.Disable,
diff --git a/commands/rm.go b/commands/rm.go
index cabbe9aa..776efe26 100644
--- a/commands/rm.go
+++ b/commands/rm.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ type rmOptions struct {
 	keepDaemon  bool
 	allInactive bool
 	force       bool
+	timeout     time.Duration
 }
 
 const (
@@ -109,6 +110,7 @@ func rmCmd(dockerCli command.Cli, rootOpts *rootOptions) *cobra.Command {
 				}
 				options.builders = args
 			}
+			options.timeout = rootOpts.timeout
 			return runRm(cmd.Context(), dockerCli, options)
 		},
 		ValidArgsFunction: completion.BuilderNames(dockerCli),
@@ -151,7 +153,7 @@ func rmAllInactive(ctx context.Context, txn *store.Txn, dockerCli command.Cli, i
 	}
 
 	timeoutCtx, cancel := context.WithCancelCause(ctx)
-	timeoutCtx, _ = context.WithTimeoutCause(timeoutCtx, 20*time.Second, errors.WithStack(context.DeadlineExceeded)) //nolint:govet,lostcancel // no need to manually cancel this context as we already rely on parent
+	timeoutCtx, _ = context.WithTimeoutCause(timeoutCtx, in.timeout, errors.WithStack(context.DeadlineExceeded)) //nolint:govet,lostcancel // no need to manually cancel this context as we already rely on parent
 	defer func() { cancel(errors.WithStack(context.Canceled)) }()
 
 	eg, _ := errgroup.WithContext(timeoutCtx)
diff --git a/commands/root.go b/commands/root.go
index d42eb44b..14edc490 100644
--- a/commands/root.go
+++ b/commands/root.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package commands
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"time"
 
 	debugcmd "github.com/docker/buildx/commands/debug"
 	historycmd "github.com/docker/buildx/commands/history"
@@ -22,6 +23,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
 )
 
+const defaultTimeoutCli = 20 * time.Second
+
 func NewRootCmd(name string, isPlugin bool, dockerCli *command.DockerCli) *cobra.Command {
 	var opt rootOptions
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
@@ -96,6 +99,7 @@ func NewRootCmd(name string, isPlugin bool, dockerCli *command.DockerCli) *cobra
 type rootOptions struct {
 	builder string
 	debug   bool
+	timeout time.Duration
 }
 
 func addCommands(cmd *cobra.Command, opts *rootOptions, dockerCli command.Cli) {
@@ -104,10 +108,10 @@ func addCommands(cmd *cobra.Command, opts *rootOptions, dockerCli command.Cli) {
 	cmd.AddCommand(
 		buildCmd(dockerCli, opts, nil),
 		bakeCmd(dockerCli, opts),
-		createCmd(dockerCli),
+		createCmd(dockerCli, opts),
 		dialStdioCmd(dockerCli, opts),
 		rmCmd(dockerCli, opts),
-		lsCmd(dockerCli),
+		lsCmd(dockerCli, opts),
 		useCmd(dockerCli, opts),
 		inspectCmd(dockerCli, opts),
 		stopCmd(dockerCli, opts),
@@ -134,4 +138,14 @@ func addCommands(cmd *cobra.Command, opts *rootOptions, dockerCli command.Cli) {
 func rootFlags(options *rootOptions, flags *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	flags.StringVar(&options.builder, "builder", os.Getenv("BUILDX_BUILDER"), "Override the configured builder instance")
 	flags.BoolVarP(&options.debug, "debug", "D", debug.IsEnabled(), "Enable debug logging")
+
+	var timeoutDuration = defaultTimeoutCli
+	if value, ok := os.LookupEnv("BUILDX_TIMEOUT"); ok {
+		var err error
+		timeoutDuration, err = time.ParseDuration(value)
+		if err != nil {
+			timeoutDuration = defaultTimeoutCli
+		}
+	}
+	flags.DurationVar(&options.timeout, "timeout", timeoutDuration, "Override the default global timeout (20 seconds)")
 }
diff --git a/controller/control/controller.go b/controller/control/controller.go
index cc501e9b..43d7bd77 100644
--- a/controller/control/controller.go
+++ b/controller/control/controller.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package control
 import (
 	"context"
 	"io"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/docker/buildx/build"
 	cbuild "github.com/docker/buildx/controller/build"
@@ -24,3 +25,7 @@ type BuildxController interface {
 	DisconnectProcess(ctx context.Context, pid string) error
 	Inspect(ctx context.Context) *cbuild.Options
 }
+
+type ControlOptions struct {
+	Timeout      time.Duration
+}
diff --git a/driver/docker-container/driver.go b/driver/docker-container/driver.go
index cfcdf67c..1f272e78 100644
--- a/driver/docker-container/driver.go
+++ b/driver/docker-container/driver.go
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ func (d *Driver) wait(ctx context.Context, l progress.SubLogger) error {
 			select {
 			case <-ctx.Done():
 				return context.Cause(ctx)
-			case <-time.After(time.Duration(try*120) * time.Millisecond):
+			case <-time.After(d.Timeout / time.Microsecond):
 				try++
 				continue
 			}
diff --git a/driver/kubernetes/driver.go b/driver/kubernetes/driver.go
index 3bfe568a..ba48fe13 100644
--- a/driver/kubernetes/driver.go
+++ b/driver/kubernetes/driver.go
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ type Driver struct {
 	configMapClient  clientcorev1.ConfigMapInterface
 	podChooser       podchooser.PodChooser
 	defaultLoad      bool
-	timeout          time.Duration
 }
 
 func (d *Driver) IsMobyDriver() bool {
@@ -91,7 +90,7 @@ func (d *Driver) Bootstrap(ctx context.Context, l progress.Logger) error {
 			}
 		}
 		return sub.Wrap(
-			fmt.Sprintf("waiting for %d pods to be ready, timeout: %s", d.minReplicas, units.HumanDuration(d.timeout)),
+			fmt.Sprintf("waiting for %d pods to be ready, timeout: %s", d.minReplicas, units.HumanDuration(d.Timeout)),
 			func() error {
 				return d.wait(ctx)
 			})
@@ -105,8 +104,8 @@ func (d *Driver) wait(ctx context.Context) error {
 		depl *appsv1.Deployment
 	)
 
-	timeoutChan := time.After(d.timeout)
-	ticker := time.NewTicker(100 * time.Millisecond)
+	timeoutChan := time.After(d.Timeout)
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(d.Timeout / time.Microsecond)
 	defer ticker.Stop()
 
 	for {
diff --git a/driver/kubernetes/factory.go b/driver/kubernetes/factory.go
index b25abb89..8a0b9f01 100644
--- a/driver/kubernetes/factory.go
+++ b/driver/kubernetes/factory.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import (
 const (
 	prioritySupported   = 40
 	priorityUnsupported = 80
-	defaultTimeout      = 120 * time.Second
 )
 
 type ClientConfig interface {
@@ -134,7 +133,7 @@ func (f *factory) New(ctx context.Context, cfg driver.InitConfig) (driver.Driver
 	}
 
 	d.defaultLoad = defaultLoad
-	d.timeout = timeout
+	d.Timeout = timeout
 
 	d.deployment, d.configMaps, err = manifest.NewDeployment(deploymentOpt)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -175,7 +174,7 @@ func (f *factory) processDriverOpts(deploymentName string, namespace string, cfg
 	}
 
 	defaultLoad := false
-	timeout := defaultTimeout
+	timeout := cfg.Timeout
 
 	deploymentOpt.Qemu.Image = bkimage.QemuImage
 
diff --git a/driver/manager.go b/driver/manager.go
index 400a0cdd..8449819a 100644
--- a/driver/manager.go
+++ b/driver/manager.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"sort"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/docker/cli/cli/context/store"
 	dockerclient "github.com/docker/docker/client"
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ type InitConfig struct {
 	Platforms       []specs.Platform
 	ContextPathHash string
 	DialMeta        map[string][]string
+	Timeout         time.Duration
 }
 
 var drivers map[string]Factory
diff --git a/driver/remote/driver.go b/driver/remote/driver.go
index 22145dd6..80aa34dc 100644
--- a/driver/remote/driver.go
+++ b/driver/remote/driver.go
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
-	"time"
 
 	"github.com/docker/buildx/driver"
 	util "github.com/docker/buildx/driver/remote/util"
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ func (d *Driver) Bootstrap(ctx context.Context, l progress.Logger) error {
 	}
 	return progress.Wrap("[internal] waiting for connection", l, func(_ progress.SubLogger) error {
 		cancelCtx, cancel := context.WithCancelCause(ctx)
-		ctx, _ := context.WithTimeoutCause(cancelCtx, 20*time.Second, errors.WithStack(context.DeadlineExceeded)) //nolint:govet,lostcancel // no need to manually cancel this context as we already rely on parent
+		ctx, _ := context.WithTimeoutCause(cancelCtx, d.Timeout, errors.WithStack(context.DeadlineExceeded)) //nolint:govet,lostcancel // no need to manually cancel this context as we already rely on parent
 		defer func() { cancel(errors.WithStack(context.Canceled)) }()
 		return c.Wait(ctx)
 	})
diff --git a/driver/remote/factory.go b/driver/remote/factory.go
index c07c08f2..be3c31c2 100644
--- a/driver/remote/factory.go
+++ b/driver/remote/factory.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/docker/buildx/driver"
 	util "github.com/docker/buildx/driver/remote/util"
@@ -87,6 +88,12 @@ func (f *factory) New(ctx context.Context, cfg driver.InitConfig) (driver.Driver
 				return nil, err
 			}
 			d.defaultLoad = parsed
+		case "timeout":
+			parsed, err := time.ParseDuration(v)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			d.Timeout = parsed
 		default:
 			return nil, errors.Errorf("invalid driver option %s for remote driver", k)
 		}