diff --git a/src/petals/cli/run_server.py b/src/petals/cli/run_server.py
index 5fb700d..57761fd 100644
--- a/src/petals/cli/run_server.py
+++ b/src/petals/cli/run_server.py
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ def main():
     parser.add_argument('--announce_maddrs', nargs='+', required=False,
                         help='Visible multiaddrs the host announces for external connections from other peers')
 
+    parser.add_argument('--daemon_startup_timeout', type=float, default=120,
+                        help='Timeout for the libp2p daemon connecting to initial peers')
+
     parser.add_argument('--compression', type=str, default='NONE', required=False, help='Tensor compression communication')
 
     parser.add_argument('--num_handlers', type=int, default=8, required=False,
@@ -167,6 +170,8 @@ def main():
         assert port != 0, "Please specify a fixed non-zero --port when you use --public_ip (e.g., --port 31337)"
         announce_maddrs = [f"/ip4/{public_ip}/tcp/{port}"]
 
+    args["startup_timeout"] = args.pop("daemon_startup_timeout")
+
     if args.pop("increase_file_limit"):
         increase_file_limit()
 
diff --git a/src/petals/client/remote_model.py b/src/petals/client/remote_model.py
index 2ec127f..3b16abe 100644
--- a/src/petals/client/remote_model.py
+++ b/src/petals/client/remote_model.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class DistributedBloomConfig(BloomConfig):
 
     initial_peers: List[str] = PUBLIC_INITIAL_PEERS  # a list of initial peers for hivemind DHT
     dht_prefix: str  # a prefix for all dht keys that correspond to this model (usually equal to model name)
-    daemon_startup_timeout: int = 30
+    daemon_startup_timeout: int = 120  # timeout for the libp2p daemon connecting to initial peers
     dht: Optional[hivemind.DHT] = None  # a running DHT instance, e.g. when using the same DHT for multiple models
     request_timeout: int = 3 * 60  # a number of seconds for waiting result from each node
     max_retries: Optional[int] = None  # max number retries before the client raises an exception (default: inf)