diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/hydra/unstable.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/hydra/unstable.nix
index a188ebc6da9c..b6c4d6fb1c85 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/hydra/unstable.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/hydra/unstable.nix
@@ -217,6 +217,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
+  postPatch = ''
+    # Change 5s timeout for init to 30s
+    substituteInPlace t/lib/HydraTestContext.pm \
+      --replace 'expectOkay(5, ("hydra-init"));' 'expectOkay(30, ("hydra-init"));'
+  '';
+
   preCheck = ''
     patchShebangs .
     export LOGNAME=''${LOGNAME:-foo}