diff --git a/build/root/Makefile b/build/root/Makefile
index 41ed3781108..f1f96ab506e 100644
--- a/build/root/Makefile
+++ b/build/root/Makefile
@@ -222,6 +222,8 @@ define TEST_E2E_NODE_HELP_INFO
 #    Defaults to "/tmp/_artifacts/$$(date +%y%m%dT%H%M%S)".
 #  LIST_IMAGES: For REMOTE=true only. If true, don't run tests. Just output the
 #    list of available images for testing.  Defaults to false.
+#  TIMEOUT: For REMOTE=true only. How long (in golang duration format) to wait
+#    for ginkgo tests to complete. Defaults to 45m.
 #  PARALLELISM: The number of ginkgo nodes to run.  Defaults to 8.
 #  RUNTIME: Container runtime to use (eg. docker, remote).
 #    Defaults to "docker".
diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh b/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
index 870e40caece..e3d0276ec62 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test-e2e-node.sh
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ container_runtime_endpoint=${CONTAINER_RUNTIME_ENDPOINT:-""}
 image_service_endpoint=${IMAGE_SERVICE_ENDPOINT:-""}
 run_until_failure=${RUN_UNTIL_FAILURE:-"false"}
 test_args=${TEST_ARGS:-""}
+timeout_arg=""
 system_spec_name=${SYSTEM_SPEC_NAME:-}
 extra_envs=${EXTRA_ENVS:-}
 
@@ -104,6 +105,9 @@ if [ "${remote}" = true ] ; then
   delete_instances=${DELETE_INSTANCES:-"false"}
   preemptible_instances=${PREEMPTIBLE_INSTANCES:-"false"}
   test_suite=${TEST_SUITE:-"default"}
+  if [[ -n "${TIMEOUT:-}" ]] ; then
+    timeout_arg="--test-timeout=${TIMEOUT}"
+  fi
 
   # Get the compute zone
   zone=${ZONE:-"$(gcloud info --format='value(config.properties.compute.zone)')"}
@@ -159,6 +163,7 @@ if [ "${remote}" = true ] ; then
     --delete-instances="${delete_instances}" --test_args="${test_args}" --instance-metadata="${metadata}" \
     --image-config-file="${image_config_file}" --system-spec-name="${system_spec_name}" \
     --preemptible-instances="${preemptible_instances}" --extra-envs="${extra_envs}" --test-suite="${test_suite}" \
+    "${timeout_arg}" \
     2>&1 | tee -i "${artifacts}/build-log.txt"
   exit $?