diff --git a/pkg/pluginmanager/lifecycle.go b/pkg/pluginmanager/lifecycle.go
index 46fcac0565..1d6ec4c294 100644
--- a/pkg/pluginmanager/lifecycle.go
+++ b/pkg/pluginmanager/lifecycle.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"os/exec"
 	"syscall"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/go-plugin"
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ func start(steampipeExecutablePath string) (*State, error) {
 		Cmd:              pluginManagerCmd,
 		AllowedProtocols: []plugin.Protocol{plugin.ProtocolGRPC},
 		Logger:           logger,
+		StartTimeout:     3 * time.Minute, //TODO: macke this configurable
 	})
 
 	if _, err := client.Start(); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/pluginmanager_service/plugin_manager.go b/pkg/pluginmanager_service/plugin_manager.go
index c6a6721ef4..9afffc75e5 100644
--- a/pkg/pluginmanager_service/plugin_manager.go
+++ b/pkg/pluginmanager_service/plugin_manager.go
@@ -501,11 +501,25 @@ func (m *PluginManager) startPluginProcess(pluginInstance string, connectionConf
 
 	cmd := exec.Command(pluginPath)
 	m.setPluginMaxMemory(pluginConfig, cmd)
+	pluginStartTimeoutSecs := pluginConfig.GetStartTimeout()
+	if pluginStartTimeoutSecs == 0 {
+		if viper.IsSet(pconstants.ArgPluginStartTimeout) {
+			pluginStartTimeoutSecs = viper.GetInt64(pconstants.ArgPluginStartTimeout)
+		}
+	}
+	if pluginStartTimeoutSecs == 0 {
+		// if we don't have any timeout set use 30 seconds
+		pluginStartTimeoutSecs = int64(30)
+	}
+	pluginStartTimeoutDuration := time.Duration(pluginStartTimeoutSecs) * time.Second
+	log.Printf("[TRACE] %s pluginStartTimeoutDuration: %s", pluginPath, pluginStartTimeoutDuration)
+
 	client := goplugin.NewClient(&goplugin.ClientConfig{
 		HandshakeConfig:  sdkshared.Handshake,
 		Plugins:          pluginMap,
 		Cmd:              cmd,
 		AllowedProtocols: []goplugin.Protocol{goplugin.ProtocolGRPC},
+		StartTimeout:     pluginStartTimeoutDuration,
 
 		// pass our logger to the plugin client to ensure plugin logs end up in logfile
 		Logger: m.logger,
@@ -678,7 +692,7 @@ func (m *PluginManager) waitForPluginLoad(p *runningPlugin, req *pb.GetRequest)
 	}
 	pluginStartTimeoutSecs := pluginConfig.GetStartTimeout()
 	if pluginStartTimeoutSecs == 0 {
-		if viper.IsSet(pconstants.ArgMemoryMaxMbPlugin) {
+		if viper.IsSet(pconstants.ArgPluginStartTimeout) {
 			pluginStartTimeoutSecs = viper.GetInt64(pconstants.ArgPluginStartTimeout)
 		}
 	}