diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/framework.go b/test/e2e/framework/framework.go
index 264c4aa7a36..bb1ab2c5d85 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/framework.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/framework.go
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	maxKubectlExecRetries = 5
+	maxKubectlExecRetries           = 5
+	DefaultNamespaceDeletionTimeout = 5 * time.Minute
 )
 
 // Framework supports common operations used by e2e tests; it will keep a client & a namespace for you.
@@ -244,7 +245,7 @@ func (f *Framework) AfterEach() {
 		if TestContext.DeleteNamespace && (TestContext.DeleteNamespaceOnFailure || !CurrentGinkgoTestDescription().Failed) {
 			for _, ns := range f.namespacesToDelete {
 				By(fmt.Sprintf("Destroying namespace %q for this suite.", ns.Name))
-				timeout := 5 * time.Minute
+				timeout := DefaultNamespaceDeletionTimeout
 				if f.NamespaceDeletionTimeout != 0 {
 					timeout = f.NamespaceDeletionTimeout
 				}
diff --git a/test/e2e/storage/persistent_volumes-gce.go b/test/e2e/storage/persistent_volumes-gce.go
index 549d3d9c4c2..0b2e7daf1aa 100644
--- a/test/e2e/storage/persistent_volumes-gce.go
+++ b/test/e2e/storage/persistent_volumes-gce.go
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@ limitations under the License.
 package storage
 
 import (
-	"time"
-
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
@@ -155,7 +153,7 @@ var _ = framework.KubeDescribe("PersistentVolumes:GCEPD [Volume]", func() {
 		err := c.CoreV1().Namespaces().Delete(ns, nil)
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 
-		err = framework.WaitForNamespacesDeleted(c, []string{ns}, 3*time.Minute)
+		err = framework.WaitForNamespacesDeleted(c, []string{ns}, framework.DefaultNamespaceDeletionTimeout)
 		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 
 		By("Verifying Persistent Disk detaches")