diff --git a/test/e2e/helpers.go b/test/e2e/helpers.go
index 33d7973ee5d..9f2c1594c4e 100644
--- a/test/e2e/helpers.go
+++ b/test/e2e/helpers.go
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ const (
 	deleteOperationTimeout                = 20 * time.Minute
 	retryableOperationTimeout             = 30 * time.Second
 	retryableOperationSleepBetweenRetries = 3 * time.Second
+	sshConnectionTimeout                  = 30 * time.Second
 )
 
 // deploymentsClientAdapter adapts a Deployment to work with WaitForDeploymentsAvailable.
@@ -533,6 +534,7 @@ func newSSHConfig() (*ssh.ClientConfig, error) {
 		HostKeyCallback: ssh.InsecureIgnoreHostKey(), //nolint:gosec // Non-production code
 		User:            azure.DefaultUserName,
 		Auth:            []ssh.AuthMethod{pubkey},
+		Timeout:         sshConnectionTimeout,
 	}
 	return &sshConfig, nil
 }