diff --git a/pkg/roachprod/install/cockroach.go b/pkg/roachprod/install/cockroach.go
index 7c8d1c14b4b4..7349a73ebc46 100644
--- a/pkg/roachprod/install/cockroach.go
+++ b/pkg/roachprod/install/cockroach.go
@@ -116,6 +116,10 @@ type StartOpts struct {
 	KVCluster *SyncedCluster
 }
 
+// startSQLTimeout identifies the COCKROACH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT to use (in seconds)
+// for sql cmds within syncedCluster.Start().
+const startSQLTimeout = 1200
+
 // StartTarget identifies what flavor of cockroach we are starting.
 type StartTarget int
 
@@ -693,12 +697,12 @@ func (c *SyncedCluster) generateClusterSettingCmd(l *logger.Logger, node Node) s
 	// removed in v21.2.
 	clusterSettingCmd += fmt.Sprintf(`
 		if ! test -e %s ; then
-			COCKROACH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=0 %s sql --url %s -e "SET CLUSTER SETTING server.remote_debugging.mode = 'any'" || true;
-			COCKROACH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=0 %s sql --url %s -e "
+			COCKROACH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=%d %s sql --url %s -e "SET CLUSTER SETTING server.remote_debugging.mode = 'any'" || true;
+			COCKROACH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=%d %s sql --url %s -e "
 				SET CLUSTER SETTING cluster.organization = 'Cockroach Labs - Production Testing';
 				SET CLUSTER SETTING enterprise.license = '%s';" \
 			&& touch %s
-		fi`, path, binary, url, binary, url, config.CockroachDevLicense, path)
+		fi`, path, startSQLTimeout, binary, url, startSQLTimeout, binary, url, config.CockroachDevLicense, path)
 	return clusterSettingCmd
 }
 
@@ -713,8 +717,8 @@ func (c *SyncedCluster) generateInitCmd(node Node) string {
 	binary := cockroachNodeBinary(c, node)
 	initCmd += fmt.Sprintf(`
 		if ! test -e %[1]s ; then
-			COCKROACH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=0 %[2]s init --url %[3]s && touch %[1]s
-		fi`, path, binary, url)
+			COCKROACH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=%[4]d %[2]s init --url %[3]s && touch %[1]s
+		fi`, path, binary, url, startSQLTimeout)
 	return initCmd
 }
 
@@ -829,10 +833,10 @@ func (c *SyncedCluster) createFixedBackupSchedule(
 	node := c.Nodes[0]
 	binary := cockroachNodeBinary(c, node)
 	url := c.NodeURL("localhost", c.NodePort(node), "" /* tenantName */)
-	fullCmd := fmt.Sprintf(`COCKROACH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=0 %s sql --url %s -e %q`,
-		binary, url, createScheduleCmd)
+	fullCmd := fmt.Sprintf(`COCKROACH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=%d %s sql --url %s -e %q`,
+		startSQLTimeout, binary, url, createScheduleCmd)
 	// Instead of using `c.ExecSQL()`, use the more flexible c.newSession(), which allows us to
-	// 1) prefix the schedule backup cmd with COCKROACH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT=0.
+	// 1) prefix the schedule backup cmd with COCKROACH_CONNECT_TIMEOUT.
 	// 2) run the command against the first node in the cluster target.
 	sess := c.newSession(l, node, fullCmd, withDebugName("init-backup-schedule"))
 	defer sess.Close()