diff --git a/hack/local-up-cluster.sh b/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
index 2a1e05e61c0..abbaef53b81 100755
--- a/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
+++ b/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ LOG_SPEC=${LOG_SPEC:-""}
 LOG_DIR=${LOG_DIR:-"/tmp"}
 CONTAINER_RUNTIME=${CONTAINER_RUNTIME:-"docker"}
 CONTAINER_RUNTIME_ENDPOINT=${CONTAINER_RUNTIME_ENDPOINT:-""}
+RUNTIME_REQUEST_TIMEOUT=${RUNTIME_REQUEST_TIMEOUT:-"2m"}
 IMAGE_SERVICE_ENDPOINT=${IMAGE_SERVICE_ENDPOINT:-""}
 CHAOS_CHANCE=${CHAOS_CHANCE:-0.0}
 CPU_CFS_QUOTA=${CPU_CFS_QUOTA:-true}
@@ -777,6 +778,7 @@ function start_kubelet {
       ${net_plugin_args[@]+"${net_plugin_args[@]}"}
       ${container_runtime_endpoint_args[@]+"${container_runtime_endpoint_args[@]}"}
       ${image_service_endpoint_args[@]+"${image_service_endpoint_args[@]}"}
+      "--runtime-request-timeout=${RUNTIME_REQUEST_TIMEOUT}"
       "--port=${KUBELET_PORT}"
       ${KUBELET_FLAGS}
     )