diff --git a/test/e2e/scalability/BUILD b/test/e2e/scalability/BUILD
index a87ebd8c347..0d7e0e47f69 100644
--- a/test/e2e/scalability/BUILD
+++ b/test/e2e/scalability/BUILD
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ load("@io_bazel_rules_go//go:def.bzl", "go_library")
 go_library(
     name = "go_default_library",
     srcs = [
+        "common.go",
         "density.go",
         "framework.go",
         "load.go",
diff --git a/test/e2e/scalability/common.go b/test/e2e/scalability/common.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4fac86cb03d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/scalability/common.go
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package scalability
+
+import "time"
+
+const (
+	// UnreadyNodeToleration denotes time the node can be unreachable/not ready.
+	UnreadyNodeToleration = 15 * time.Minute
+)
diff --git a/test/e2e/scalability/density.go b/test/e2e/scalability/density.go
index 3d4d9a6e21e..9a2e64256c3 100644
--- a/test/e2e/scalability/density.go
+++ b/test/e2e/scalability/density.go
@@ -637,7 +637,11 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("Density", func() {
 			// Since all RCs are created at the same time, timeout for each config
 			// has to assume that it will be run at the very end.
 			podThroughput := 20
-			timeout := time.Duration(totalPods/podThroughput)*time.Second + 3*time.Minute
+			timeout := time.Duration(totalPods/podThroughput) * time.Second
+			if timeout < UnreadyNodeToleration {
+				timeout = UnreadyNodeToleration
+			}
+			timeout += 3 * time.Minute
 			// createClients is defined in load.go
 			clients, internalClients, scalesClients, err := createClients(numberOfCollections)
 			framework.ExpectNoError(err)
@@ -688,6 +692,19 @@ var _ = SIGDescribe("Density", func() {
 					SecretNames:                    secretNames,
 					ConfigMapNames:                 configMapNames,
 					ServiceAccountTokenProjections: itArg.svcacctTokenProjectionsPerPod,
+					Tolerations: []v1.Toleration{
+						{
+							Key:               "node.kubernetes.io/not-ready",
+							Operator:          v1.TolerationOpExists,
+							Effect:            v1.TaintEffectNoExecute,
+							TolerationSeconds: func(i int64) *int64 { return &i }(int64(UnreadyNodeToleration / time.Second)),
+						}, {
+							Key:               "node.kubernetes.io/unreachable",
+							Operator:          v1.TolerationOpExists,
+							Effect:            v1.TaintEffectNoExecute,
+							TolerationSeconds: func(i int64) *int64 { return &i }(int64(UnreadyNodeToleration / time.Second)),
+						},
+					},
 				}
 				switch itArg.kind {
 				case api.Kind("ReplicationController"):
diff --git a/test/e2e/scalability/load.go b/test/e2e/scalability/load.go
index 78d3d45c55c..5e2a95e2d9c 100644
--- a/test/e2e/scalability/load.go
+++ b/test/e2e/scalability/load.go
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@ func GenerateConfigsForGroup(
 			InternalClient: nil, // this will be overwritten later
 			Name:           groupName + "-" + strconv.Itoa(i),
 			Namespace:      namespace,
-			Timeout:        10 * time.Minute,
+			Timeout:        UnreadyNodeToleration,
 			Image:          image,
 			Command:        command,
 			Replicas:       size,
@@ -551,6 +551,19 @@ func GenerateConfigsForGroup(
 			ConfigMapNames: configMapNames,
 			// Define a label to group every 2 RCs into one service.
 			Labels: map[string]string{svcLabelKey: groupName + "-" + strconv.Itoa((i+1)/2)},
+			Tolerations: []v1.Toleration{
+				{
+					Key:               "node.kubernetes.io/not-ready",
+					Operator:          v1.TolerationOpExists,
+					Effect:            v1.TaintEffectNoExecute,
+					TolerationSeconds: func(i int64) *int64 { return &i }(int64(UnreadyNodeToleration / time.Second)),
+				}, {
+					Key:               "node.kubernetes.io/unreachable",
+					Operator:          v1.TolerationOpExists,
+					Effect:            v1.TaintEffectNoExecute,
+					TolerationSeconds: func(i int64) *int64 { return &i }(int64(UnreadyNodeToleration / time.Second)),
+				},
+			},
 		}
 
 		if kind == randomKind {