diff --git a/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/options/options.go b/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/options/options.go
index a4a559715f0..01775d454cf 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/options/options.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-controller-manager/app/options/options.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ package options
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
+	"time"
 
 	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	utilerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors"
@@ -434,6 +435,7 @@ func (s KubeControllerManagerOptions) Config(allControllers []string, disabledBy
 	kubeconfig.ContentConfig.ContentType = s.Generic.ClientConnection.ContentType
 	kubeconfig.QPS = s.Generic.ClientConnection.QPS
 	kubeconfig.Burst = int(s.Generic.ClientConnection.Burst)
+	kubeconfig.Timeout = 70 * time.Second // slightly bigger than the default server timeout which is 60 seconds
 
 	client, err := clientset.NewForConfig(restclient.AddUserAgent(kubeconfig, KubeControllerManagerUserAgent))
 	if err != nil {