diff --git a/lib/config.ts b/lib/config.ts
index 65811aa9a..37db785cc 100644
--- a/lib/config.ts
+++ b/lib/config.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,13 @@ export interface Config {
    */
   seleniumServerJar?: string;
 
+  /**
+   * The timeout milliseconds waiting for a local standalone Selenium Server to start.
+   *
+   * default: 30000ms
+   */
+  seleniumServerStartTimeout?: number;
+
   /**
    * Can be an object which will be passed to the SeleniumServer class as args.
    * See a full list of options at
diff --git a/lib/driverProviders/local.ts b/lib/driverProviders/local.ts
index 62ba223b0..45ad97318 100644
--- a/lib/driverProviders/local.ts
+++ b/lib/driverProviders/local.ts
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ export class Local extends DriverProvider {
     this.server_ = new remote.SeleniumServer(this.config_.seleniumServerJar, serverConf);
 
     // start local server, grab hosted address, and resolve promise
-    this.server_.start().then((url: string) => {
+    this.server_.start(this.config_.seleniumServerStartTimeout).then((url: string) => {
       logger.info('Selenium standalone server started at ' + url);
       this.server_.address().then((address: string) => {
         this.config_.seleniumAddress = address;