diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/fuzzer/fuzzer.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/fuzzer/fuzzer.go
index a1768876783..f9d1c9df3ea 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/fuzzer/fuzzer.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/fuzzer/fuzzer.go
@@ -50,6 +50,11 @@ func fuzzInitConfiguration(obj *kubeadm.InitConfiguration, c fuzz.Continue) {
 	// More specifically:
 	// internal with manually applied defaults -> external object : loosing ClusterConfiguration) -> internal object with automatically applied defaults
 	obj.ClusterConfiguration = kubeadm.ClusterConfiguration{
+		APIServer: kubeadm.APIServer{
+			TimeoutForControlPlane: &metav1.Duration{
+				Duration: constants.DefaultControlPlaneTimeout,
+			},
+		},
 		AuditPolicyConfiguration: kubeadm.AuditPolicyConfiguration{
 			LogDir:    constants.StaticPodAuditPolicyLogDir,
 			LogMaxAge: &v1beta1.DefaultAuditPolicyLogMaxAge,
@@ -97,6 +102,9 @@ func fuzzClusterConfiguration(obj *kubeadm.ClusterConfiguration, c fuzz.Continue
 	obj.ClusterName = "bar"
 	obj.ImageRepository = "baz"
 	obj.KubernetesVersion = "qux"
+	obj.APIServer.TimeoutForControlPlane = &metav1.Duration{
+		Duration: constants.DefaultControlPlaneTimeout,
+	}
 }
 
 func fuzzAuditPolicyConfiguration(obj *kubeadm.AuditPolicyConfiguration, c fuzz.Continue) {
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/types.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/types.go
index f97844c365a..f05188fcdc7 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/types.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/types.go
@@ -130,6 +130,9 @@ type APIServer struct {
 
 	// CertSANs sets extra Subject Alternative Names for the API Server signing cert.
 	CertSANs []string
+
+	// TimeoutForControlPlane controls the timeout that we use for API server to appear
+	TimeoutForControlPlane *metav1.Duration
 }
 
 // ComponentConfigs holds known internal ComponentConfig types for other components
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1alpha3/conversion.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1alpha3/conversion.go
index a70861256b4..bb1ac51eba2 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1alpha3/conversion.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1alpha3/conversion.go
@@ -17,8 +17,10 @@ limitations under the License.
 package v1alpha3
 
 import (
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/conversion"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants"
 )
 
 func Convert_v1alpha3_JoinConfiguration_To_kubeadm_JoinConfiguration(in *JoinConfiguration, out *kubeadm.JoinConfiguration, s conversion.Scope) error {
@@ -84,6 +86,9 @@ func Convert_v1alpha3_ClusterConfiguration_To_kubeadm_ClusterConfiguration(in *C
 
 	out.APIServer.ExtraArgs = in.APIServerExtraArgs
 	out.APIServer.CertSANs = in.APIServerCertSANs
+	out.APIServer.TimeoutForControlPlane = &metav1.Duration{
+		Duration: constants.DefaultControlPlaneTimeout,
+	}
 	if err := convertSlice_v1alpha3_HostPathMount_To_kubeadm_HostPathMount(&in.APIServerExtraVolumes, &out.APIServer.ExtraVolumes, s); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/defaults.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/defaults.go
index 68564fa7720..aa56a0cfebc 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/defaults.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/defaults.go
@@ -101,6 +101,16 @@ func SetDefaults_ClusterConfiguration(obj *ClusterConfiguration) {
 
 	SetDefaults_Etcd(obj)
 	SetDefaults_AuditPolicyConfiguration(obj)
+	SetDefaults_APIServer(&obj.APIServer)
+}
+
+// SetDefaults_APIServer assigns default values for the API Server
+func SetDefaults_APIServer(obj *APIServer) {
+	if obj.TimeoutForControlPlane == nil {
+		obj.TimeoutForControlPlane = &metav1.Duration{
+			Duration: constants.DefaultControlPlaneTimeout,
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 // SetDefaults_Etcd assigns default values for the Proxy
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/doc.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/doc.go
index a1fe2f351a2..e9c3843d93c 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/doc.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/doc.go
@@ -212,6 +212,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 //	  certSANs:
 //	  - "10.100.1.1"
 //	  - "ec2-10-100-0-1.compute-1.amazonaws.com"
+//	  timeoutForControlPlane: 4m0s
 //	controllerManager:
 //	  extraArgs:
 //	    node-cidr-mask-size: 20
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/types.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/types.go
index 5ac764c3e44..0dd69c61c77 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/types.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/types.go
@@ -120,6 +120,9 @@ type APIServer struct {
 
 	// CertSANs sets extra Subject Alternative Names for the API Server signing cert.
 	CertSANs []string `json:"certSANs,omitempty"`
+
+	// TimeoutForControlPlane controls the timeout that we use for API server to appear
+	TimeoutForControlPlane *metav1.Duration `json:"timeoutForControlPlane,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // +k8s:deepcopy-gen:interfaces=k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime.Object
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.conversion.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.conversion.go
index 36b11a3ed94..7370186920d 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.conversion.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.conversion.go
@@ -257,6 +257,7 @@ func autoConvert_v1beta1_APIServer_To_kubeadm_APIServer(in *APIServer, out *kube
 		return err
 	}
 	out.CertSANs = *(*[]string)(unsafe.Pointer(&in.CertSANs))
+	out.TimeoutForControlPlane = (*v1.Duration)(unsafe.Pointer(in.TimeoutForControlPlane))
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -270,6 +271,7 @@ func autoConvert_kubeadm_APIServer_To_v1beta1_APIServer(in *kubeadm.APIServer, o
 		return err
 	}
 	out.CertSANs = *(*[]string)(unsafe.Pointer(&in.CertSANs))
+	out.TimeoutForControlPlane = (*v1.Duration)(unsafe.Pointer(in.TimeoutForControlPlane))
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index cc2e1ad7125..72e7e81a440 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -51,6 +51,11 @@ func (in *APIServer) DeepCopyInto(out *APIServer) {
 		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
 		copy(*out, *in)
 	}
+	if in.TimeoutForControlPlane != nil {
+		in, out := &in.TimeoutForControlPlane, &out.TimeoutForControlPlane
+		*out = new(v1.Duration)
+		**out = **in
+	}
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.defaults.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.defaults.go
index a27612cce03..799ffbb7e09 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.defaults.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/v1beta1/zz_generated.defaults.go
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ func RegisterDefaults(scheme *runtime.Scheme) error {
 
 func SetObjectDefaults_ClusterConfiguration(in *ClusterConfiguration) {
 	SetDefaults_ClusterConfiguration(in)
+	SetDefaults_APIServer(&in.APIServer)
 }
 
 func SetObjectDefaults_ClusterStatus(in *ClusterStatus) {
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index ec241bdf08d..89a0ed5709b 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/apis/kubeadm/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -53,6 +53,11 @@ func (in *APIServer) DeepCopyInto(out *APIServer) {
 		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
 		copy(*out, *in)
 	}
+	if in.TimeoutForControlPlane != nil {
+		in, out := &in.TimeoutForControlPlane, &out.TimeoutForControlPlane
+		*out = new(v1.Duration)
+		**out = **in
+	}
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go
index 301c3bcebae..c0c575c7c5c 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/init.go
@@ -469,8 +469,10 @@ func runInit(i *initData, out io.Writer) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to create client")
 	}
+
 	// TODO: NewControlPlaneWaiter should be converted to private after the self-hosting phase is removed.
-	waiter, err := phases.NewControlPlaneWaiter(i.dryRun, client, i.outputWriter)
+	timeout := i.cfg.ClusterConfiguration.APIServer.TimeoutForControlPlane.Duration
+	waiter, err := phases.NewControlPlaneWaiter(i.dryRun, timeout, client, i.outputWriter)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to create waiter")
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/waitcontrolplane.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/waitcontrolplane.go
index c54cbf0a035..4c6ac4be85b 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/waitcontrolplane.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/phases/waitcontrolplane.go
@@ -93,12 +93,13 @@ func runWaitControlPlanePhase(c workflow.RunData) error {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "cannot obtain client")
 	}
 
-	waiter, err := NewControlPlaneWaiter(data.DryRun(), client, data.OutputWriter())
+	timeout := data.Cfg().ClusterConfiguration.APIServer.TimeoutForControlPlane.Duration
+	waiter, err := NewControlPlaneWaiter(data.DryRun(), timeout, client, data.OutputWriter())
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "error creating waiter")
 	}
 
-	fmt.Printf("[wait-control-plane] Waiting for the kubelet to boot up the control plane as static Pods from directory %q\n", data.ManifestDir())
+	fmt.Printf("[wait-control-plane] Waiting for the kubelet to boot up the control plane as static Pods from directory %q. This can take up to %v\n", data.ManifestDir(), timeout)
 
 	if err := waiter.WaitForKubeletAndFunc(waiter.WaitForAPI); err != nil {
 		ctx := map[string]string{
@@ -143,14 +144,10 @@ func printFilesIfDryRunning(data waitControlPlaneData) error {
 
 // NewControlPlaneWaiter returns a new waiter that is used to wait on the control plane to boot up.
 // TODO: make private (lowercase) after self-hosting phase is removed.
-func NewControlPlaneWaiter(dryRun bool, client clientset.Interface, out io.Writer) (apiclient.Waiter, error) {
+func NewControlPlaneWaiter(dryRun bool, timeout time.Duration, client clientset.Interface, out io.Writer) (apiclient.Waiter, error) {
 	if dryRun {
 		return dryrunutil.NewWaiter(), nil
 	}
 
-	// We know that the images should be cached locally already as we have pulled them using
-	// crictl in the preflight checks. Hence we can have a pretty short timeout for the kubelet
-	// to start creating Static Pods.
-	timeout := 4 * time.Minute
 	return apiclient.NewKubeWaiter(client, timeout, out), nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
index 61374d5806e..71cc804b2a7 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants/constants.go
@@ -178,6 +178,9 @@ const (
 	// TLSBootstrapTimeout specifies how long kubeadm should wait for the kubelet to perform the TLS Bootstrap
 	TLSBootstrapTimeout = 2 * time.Minute
 
+	// DefaultControlPlaneTimeout specifies the default control plane (actually API Server) timeout for use by kubeadm
+	DefaultControlPlaneTimeout = 4 * time.Minute
+
 	// MinimumAddressesInServiceSubnet defines minimum amount of nodes the Service subnet should allow.
 	// We need at least ten, because the DNS service is always at the tenth cluster clusterIP
 	MinimumAddressesInServiceSubnet = 10
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/conversion/master/internal.yaml b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/conversion/master/internal.yaml
index 0e876504fa1..a94f6b1b841 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/conversion/master/internal.yaml
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/conversion/master/internal.yaml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ APIServer:
     Name: WritableVolume
     PathType: ""
     ReadOnly: false
+  TimeoutForControlPlane: 4m0s
 AuditPolicyConfiguration:
   LogDir: /var/log/kubernetes/audit
   LogMaxAge: 2
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/conversion/master/v1beta1.yaml b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/conversion/master/v1beta1.yaml
index 98be69edb87..c15ea283fea 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/conversion/master/v1beta1.yaml
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/conversion/master/v1beta1.yaml
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ apiServer:
   - hostPath: /host/writable
     mountPath: /mount/writable
     name: WritableVolume
+  timeoutForControlPlane: 4m0s
 apiVersion: kubeadm.k8s.io/v1beta1
 auditPolicy:
   logDir: /var/log/kubernetes/audit
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/defaulting/master/defaulted.yaml b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/defaulting/master/defaulted.yaml
index e8346d4f679..520c9dfb993 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/defaulting/master/defaulted.yaml
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/util/config/testdata/defaulting/master/defaulted.yaml
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ nodeRegistration:
   - effect: NoSchedule
     key: node-role.kubernetes.io/master
 ---
-apiServer: {}
+apiServer:
+  timeoutForControlPlane: 4m0s
 apiVersion: kubeadm.k8s.io/v1beta1
 auditPolicy:
   logDir: /var/log/kubernetes/audit