diff --git a/nemo_run/core/execution/docker.py b/nemo_run/core/execution/docker.py
index 4de7433d..4799e279 100644
--- a/nemo_run/core/execution/docker.py
+++ b/nemo_run/core/execution/docker.py
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 from nemo_run.core.serialization.yaml import YamlSerializer
 from nemo_run.core.serialization.zlib_json import ZlibJSONSerializer
 
+
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from docker import DockerClient
     from docker.models.containers import Container
@@ -63,7 +64,7 @@
 def get_client() -> "DockerClient":
     import docker
 
-    return docker.from_env()
+    return docker.from_env(timeout=int(os.environ.get("NEMORUN_DOCKER_CLIENT_TIMEOUT", 60)))
 
 
 def ensure_network(client: Optional["DockerClient"] = None, network: Optional[str] = None) -> None: