diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/docker-env.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/docker-env.go
index d095f9c768ac..0f315594b30e 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/docker-env.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/docker-env.go
@@ -29,10 +29,14 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	apiWait "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
+
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 
+	kconst "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/constants"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/drivers/kic/oci"
+	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kverify"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/command"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/constants"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/driver"
@@ -45,6 +49,8 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/sysinit"
 )
 
+const minLogCheckTime = 60 * time.Second
+
 var dockerEnvTCPTmpl = fmt.Sprintf(
 	"{{ .Prefix }}%s{{ .Delimiter }}{{ .DockerTLSVerify }}{{ .Suffix }}"+
 		"{{ .Prefix }}%s{{ .Delimiter }}{{ .DockerHost }}{{ .Suffix }}"+
@@ -193,9 +199,37 @@ func mustRestartDockerd(name string, runner command.Runner) {
 		// if we get to the point that we have to restart docker (instead of reload)
 		// will need to wait for apisever container to come up, this usually takes 5 seconds
 		// verifying apisever using kverify would add code complexity for a rare case.
-		klog.Warningf("waiting 5 seconds to ensure apisever container is up...")
-		time.Sleep(time.Second * 5)
+		klog.Warningf("waiting to ensure apisever container is up...")
+		startTime := time.Now()
+		if err = waitForAPIServerProcess(runner, startTime, time.Second*30); err != nil {
+			klog.Warningf("apiserver container isn't up, error: %v", err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func waitForAPIServerProcess(cr command.Runner, start time.Time, timeout time.Duration) error {
+	klog.Infof("waiting for apiserver process to appear ...")
+	err := apiWait.PollImmediate(time.Millisecond*500, timeout, func() (bool, error) {
+		if time.Since(start) > timeout {
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("cluster wait timed out during process check")
+		}
+
+		if time.Since(start) > minLogCheckTime {
+			klog.Infof("waiting for apiserver process to appear ...")
+			time.Sleep(kconst.APICallRetryInterval * 5)
+		}
+
+		if _, ierr := kverify.APIServerPID(cr); ierr != nil {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+
+		return true, nil
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("apiserver process never appeared")
 	}
+	klog.Infof("duration metric: took %s to wait for apiserver process to appear ...", time.Since(start))
+	return nil
 }
 
 // dockerEnvCmd represents the docker-env command
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kverify/api_server.go b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kverify/api_server.go
index 9ca936309763..fe07aba87b8c 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kverify/api_server.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/bootstrapper/bsutil/kverify/api_server.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func WaitForAPIServerProcess(r cruntime.Manager, bs bootstrapper.Bootstrapper, c
 			time.Sleep(kconst.APICallRetryInterval * 5)
 		}
 
-		if _, ierr := apiServerPID(cr); ierr != nil {
+		if _, ierr := APIServerPID(cr); ierr != nil {
 			return false, nil
 		}
 
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ func WaitForAPIServerProcess(r cruntime.Manager, bs bootstrapper.Bootstrapper, c
 	return nil
 }
 
-// apiServerPID returns our best guess to the apiserver pid
-func apiServerPID(cr command.Runner) (int, error) {
+// APIServerPID returns our best guess to the apiserver pid
+func APIServerPID(cr command.Runner) (int, error) {
 	rr, err := cr.RunCmd(exec.Command("sudo", "pgrep", "-xnf", "kube-apiserver.*minikube.*"))
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ func APIServerVersionMatch(client *kubernetes.Clientset, expected string) error
 func APIServerStatus(cr command.Runner, hostname string, port int) (state.State, error) {
 	klog.Infof("Checking apiserver status ...")
 
-	pid, err := apiServerPID(cr)
+	pid, err := APIServerPID(cr)
 	if err != nil {
 		klog.Warningf("stopped: unable to get apiserver pid: %v", err)
 		return state.Stopped, nil