diff --git a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/deployer.go b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/deployer.go
index a79bf96965..170301ed9f 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/deployer.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/deployer.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package deployer
 import (
 	"flag"
 	"sync"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/octago/sflags/gen/gpflag"
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
@@ -55,6 +56,8 @@ type deployer struct {
 	KopsBinaryPath string   `flag:"kops-binary-path" desc:"The path to kops executable used for testing"`
 	StateStore     string   `flag:"-"`
 
+	ValidationWait time.Duration `flag:"validation-wait" desc:"time to wait for newly created cluster to pass validation"`
+
 	TemplatePath string `flag:"template-path" desc:"The path to the manifest template used for cluster creation"`
 
 	KubernetesVersion string `flag:"kubernetes-version" desc:"The kubernetes version to use in the cluster"`
diff --git a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/up.go b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/up.go
index 5cece387ff..ae599a5e36 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/up.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/kubetest2-kops/deployer/up.go
@@ -147,17 +147,21 @@ func (d *deployer) createCluster(zones []string, adminAccess string) error {
 }
 
 func (d *deployer) IsUp() (bool, error) {
-	wait := "15m"
-	if d.TerraformVersion != "" {
-		// `--target terraform` doesn't precreate the API DNS records,
-		// so kops is more likely to hit negative TTLs during validation
-		wait = "20m"
+	wait := d.ValidationWait
+	if wait == 0 {
+		if d.TerraformVersion != "" {
+			// `--target terraform` doesn't precreate the API DNS records,
+			// so kops is more likely to hit negative TTLs during validation
+			wait = time.Duration(20) * time.Minute
+		} else {
+			wait = time.Duration(15) * time.Minute
+		}
 	}
 	args := []string{
 		d.KopsBinaryPath, "validate", "cluster",
 		"--name", d.ClusterName,
 		"--count", "10",
-		"--wait", wait,
+		"--wait", wait.String(),
 	}
 	klog.Info(strings.Join(args, " "))