diff --git a/vsphere/provider.go b/vsphere/provider.go
index 83a138b39..e5e07a3ed 100644
--- a/vsphere/provider.go
+++ b/vsphere/provider.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 // defaultAPITimeout is a default timeout value that is passed to functions
 // requiring contexts, and other various waiters.
-const defaultAPITimeout = time.Minute * 5
+var defaultAPITimeout time.Duration = time.Minute * 5
 
 // Provider returns a terraform.ResourceProvider.
 func Provider() *schema.Provider {
@@ -171,6 +171,9 @@ func Provider() *schema.Provider {
 }
 
 func providerConfigure(d *schema.ResourceData) (interface{}, error) {
+	timeoutMins := time.Duration(d.Get("api_timeout").(int))
+	defaultAPITimeout = time.Duration(timeoutMins * time.Minute)
+
 	c, err := NewConfig(d)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err