diff --git a/lib/puppet/provider/puppetdb_conn_validator/puppet_https.rb b/lib/puppet/provider/puppetdb_conn_validator/puppet_https.rb
index 95d5a9c..1cb788f 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/provider/puppetdb_conn_validator/puppet_https.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/provider/puppetdb_conn_validator/puppet_https.rb
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def attempt_connection
     end
     return true
   rescue Errno::ECONNREFUSED => e
-    Puppet.warning "Unable to connect to puppetdb server (#{host}:#{port}): #{e.inspect} "
+    Puppet.notice "Unable to connect to puppetdb server (#{host}:#{port}): #{e.inspect} "
     return false
   end
 end
@@ -38,17 +38,26 @@ Puppet::Type.type(:puppetdb_conn_validator).provide(:puppet_https) do
         setup from the local puppet environment to authenticate."
 
   def exists?
+    start_time = Time.now
+    timeout = resource[:timeout]
+
     success = attempt_connection
     unless success
-      # It can take several seconds for the puppetdb server to start up;
-      # especially on the first install.  Therefore, our first connection attempt
-      # may fail.  Here we have somewhat arbitrarily chosen to retry one time
-      # after ten seconds if that situation arises.  May want to revisit this,
-      # but it seems to work OK for the common use case.
-      Puppet.notice("Failed to connect to puppetdb; sleeping 10 seconds before retry")
-      sleep 10
-      success = attempt_connection
+      while (Time.now - start_time) < timeout
+        # It can take several seconds for the puppetdb server to start up;
+        # especially on the first install.  Therefore, our first connection attempt
+        # may fail.  Here we have somewhat arbitrarily chosen to retry every 10
+        # seconds until the configurable timeout has expired.
+        Puppet.notice("Failed to connect to puppetdb; sleeping 2 seconds before retry")
+        sleep 2
+        success = attempt_connection
+      end
     end
+
+    unless success
+      Puppet.notice("Failed to connect to puppetdb within timeout window of #{timeout} seconds; giving up.")
+    end
+
     success
   end
 
diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/puppetdb_conn_validator.rb b/lib/puppet/type/puppetdb_conn_validator.rb
index caaf346..48cb8e9 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/puppetdb_conn_validator.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/puppetdb_conn_validator.rb
@@ -23,4 +23,18 @@ Puppet::Type.newtype(:puppetdb_conn_validator) do
     desc 'The port that the puppetdb server should be listening on.'
   end
 
+  newparam(:timeout) do
+    desc 'The max number of seconds that the validator should wait before giving up and deciding that puppetdb is not running; defaults to 15 seconds.'
+    defaultto 15
+
+    validate do |value|
+      # This will raise an error if the string is not convertible to an integer
+      Integer(value)
+    end
+
+    munge do |value|
+      Integer(value)
+    end
+  end
+
 end
diff --git a/manifests/master/config.pp b/manifests/master/config.pp
index dc6d76d..072f237 100644
--- a/manifests/master/config.pp
+++ b/manifests/master/config.pp
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@
 #                         be installed.  You may specify an explicit version
 #                         number, 'present', or 'latest'.  Defaults to
 #                         'present'.
+#   ['puppetdb_startup_timeout']  - The maximum amount of time that the module
+#                         should wait for puppetdb to start up; this is most
+#                         important during the initial install of puppetdb.
+#                         Defaults to 15 seconds.
 #   ['restart_puppet']  - If true, the module will restart the puppet master when
 #                         necessary.  The default is 'true'.  If set to 'false',
 #                         you must restart the service manually in order to pick
@@ -43,15 +47,16 @@
 # TODO: finish porting this to use params
 #
 class puppetdb::master::config(
-  $puppetdb_server      = $::clientcert,
-  $puppetdb_port        = 8081,
-  $manage_routes        = true,
-  $manage_storeconfigs  = true,
-  $puppet_confdir       = $puppetdb::params::puppet_confdir,
-  $puppet_conf          = $puppetdb::params::puppet_conf,
-  $puppetdb_version     = $puppetdb::params::puppetdb_version,
-  $terminus_package     = $puppetdb::params::terminus_package,
-  $puppet_service_name  = $puppetdb::params::puppet_service_name,
+  $puppetdb_server          = $::clientcert,
+  $puppetdb_port            = 8081,
+  $manage_routes            = true,
+  $manage_storeconfigs      = true,
+  $puppet_confdir           = $puppetdb::params::puppet_confdir,
+  $puppet_conf              = $puppetdb::params::puppet_conf,
+  $puppetdb_version         = $puppetdb::params::puppetdb_version,
+  $terminus_package         = $puppetdb::params::terminus_package,
+  $puppet_service_name      = $puppetdb::params::puppet_service_name,
+  $puppetdb_startup_timeout = $puppetdb::params::puppetdb_startup_timeout,
   $restart_puppet       = true,
 ) inherits puppetdb::params {
 
@@ -64,6 +69,7 @@ class puppetdb::master::config(
   puppetdb_conn_validator { 'puppetdb_conn':
     puppetdb_server => $puppetdb_server,
     puppetdb_port   => $puppetdb_port,
+    timeout         => $puppetdb_startup_timeout,
     require         => Package[$terminus_package],
   }
 
diff --git a/manifests/params.pp b/manifests/params.pp
index 48a960c..4a9992c 100644
--- a/manifests/params.pp
+++ b/manifests/params.pp
@@ -62,5 +62,6 @@ class puppetdb::params {
     $terminus_package     = 'puppetdb-terminus'
   }
 
-  $puppet_conf          = "${puppet_confdir}/puppet.conf"
+  $puppet_conf              = "${puppet_confdir}/puppet.conf"
+  $puppetdb_startup_timeout = 15
 }