diff --git a/src/main/java/com/dajudge/kindcontainer/ApiServerContainer.java b/src/main/java/com/dajudge/kindcontainer/ApiServerContainer.java
index 403a181..d031023 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/dajudge/kindcontainer/ApiServerContainer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/dajudge/kindcontainer/ApiServerContainer.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import org.testcontainers.shaded.org.bouncycastle.asn1.x509.GeneralName;
 import org.testcontainers.utility.DockerImageName;
 
+import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ public class ApiServerContainer<T extends ApiServerContainer<T>> extends Kuberne
             new GeneralName(GeneralName.iPAddress, "127.0.0.1")
     ));
     private EtcdContainer etcd;
+    private Duration controlPlaneReadyTimeout = Duration.ofMinutes(5);
 
     /**
      * Constructs a new <code>ApiServerContainer</code> with the latest supported Kubernetes version.
@@ -160,7 +162,7 @@ private void waitForApiServer() {
                 .pollInterval(ofMillis(100))
                 .pollDelay(ZERO)
                 .ignoreExceptions()
-                .forever()
+                .timeout(controlPlaneReadyTimeout)
                 .until(() -> null != TinyK8sClient.fromKubeconfig(getKubeconfig()).v1().nodes().list());
     }
 
@@ -204,4 +206,15 @@ public void stop() {
         super.stop();
         etcd.stop();
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the timeout applied when waiting for the Kubernetes control plane to become ready.
+     *
+     * @param timeout the timeout
+     * @return <code>this</code>
+     */
+    public T withControlPlaneReadyTimeout(final Duration timeout) {
+        this.controlPlaneReadyTimeout = timeout;
+        return self();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/dajudge/kindcontainer/ApiServerTest.java b/src/test/java/com/dajudge/kindcontainer/ApiServerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..356244b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/dajudge/kindcontainer/ApiServerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+package com.dajudge.kindcontainer;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+
+import static com.dajudge.kindcontainer.KubernetesVersionEnum.latest;
+import static java.time.Duration.ofSeconds;
+import static java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.MINUTES;
+import static org.awaitility.Awaitility.await;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
+
+public class ApiServerTest {
+    @Test
+    public void configurableTimeout() {
+        final AtomicBoolean containerCompleted = new AtomicBoolean();
+        final AtomicReference<Exception> containerFailed = new AtomicReference<>();
+        final ApiServerContainer<?> apiServer = new ApiServerContainer<>(latest(ApiServerContainerVersion.class).withImage("nginx"))
+                .withCreateContainerCmdModifier(cmd -> cmd.withEntrypoint().withCmd())
+                .withCommand("nginx")
+                .withControlPlaneReadyTimeout(ofSeconds(1));
+        final Thread containerThread = new Thread(() -> {
+            try {
+                apiServer.start();
+                apiServer.stop();
+            } catch (final Exception e) {
+                containerFailed.set(e);
+            } finally {
+                containerCompleted.set(true);
+            }
+        });
+        try {
+            containerThread.start();
+
+            await().timeout(5, MINUTES).until(containerCompleted::get);
+            assertNotNull(containerFailed.get());
+        } finally {
+            apiServer.stop();
+        }
+    }
+
+}