diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/Args.java b/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/Args.java
index e767f28..ceb873d 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/Args.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/Args.java
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
 
 
     @Option(name = "-timeout", metaVar = "<secs>", usage = "Timeout for wait commands in seconds")
-    protected int timeoutSecs = -1;
+    protected int timeoutSecs = 0;
 
     @Option(name = "-quiet", aliases = "-q", usage = "Suppress all normal output")
     protected boolean quiet;
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/commands/RemoteCommand.java b/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/commands/RemoteCommand.java
index 031a721..e7b6be3 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/commands/RemoteCommand.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/commands/RemoteCommand.java
@@ -23,10 +23,14 @@
 import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.URL;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 import org.apache.asterix.clienthelper.Args;
 
 public abstract class RemoteCommand extends ClientCommand {
+
+    public static final int MAX_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_SECS = 60;
+
     protected enum Method {
         GET,
         POST
@@ -64,6 +68,10 @@
     protected HttpURLConnection openConnection(String path, Method method) throws IOException {
         URL url = new URL("http://" + hostPort + "/" + path);
         HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection)url.openConnection();
+        final int timeoutMillis =
+                (int) TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(Math.max(MAX_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_SECS, args.getTimeoutSecs()));
+        conn.setConnectTimeout(timeoutMillis);
+        conn.setReadTimeout(timeoutMillis);
         conn.setRequestMethod(method.name());
         return conn;
     }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/commands/WaitForClusterCommand.java b/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/commands/WaitForClusterCommand.java
index 390ce7b..b0b4c6f 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/commands/WaitForClusterCommand.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-client-helper/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/clienthelper/commands/WaitForClusterCommand.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 
@@ -38,17 +39,18 @@
     @Override
     @SuppressWarnings("squid:S2142") // interrupted exception
     public int execute() throws IOException {
+        final int timeoutSecs = args.getTimeoutSecs();
         log("Waiting "
-                + (args.getTimeoutSecs() > 0 ? "up to " + args.getTimeoutSecs() + " seconds " : "")
+                + (timeoutSecs > 0 ? "up to " + timeoutSecs + " seconds " : "")
                 + "for cluster " + hostPort + " to be available.");
 
         long startTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
+        long timeoutMillis = TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(timeoutSecs);
         boolean first = true;
         String lastState = null;
         while (true) {
             if (!first) {
-                if (args.getTimeoutSecs() >= 0
-                        && (startTime + (args.getTimeoutSecs() * 1000) < System.currentTimeMillis())) {
+                if (timeoutMillis > 0 && (startTime + timeoutMillis < System.currentTimeMillis())) {
                     break;
                 }
                 try {
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@
                 // ignore exception, try again
             }
         }
-        log("Cluster " + hostPort + " was not available before timeout of " + args.getTimeoutSecs()
+        log("Cluster " + hostPort + " was not available before timeout of " + timeoutSecs
                 + " seconds was exhausted" + (lastState != null ? " (state: " + lastState + ")" : "")
                 + "; check logs for more information");
         return 1;