diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ba39b84a7..2e3ce9ef9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -939,6 +939,7 @@ to change Zappa's behavior. Use these at your own risk!
         "timeout_seconds": 30, // Maximum lifespan for the Lambda function (default 30, max 900.)
         "touch": true, // GET the production URL upon initial deployment (default True)
         "touch_path": "/", // The endpoint path to GET when checking the initial deployment (default "/")
+        "touch_try_count": 4, // Requests try count if requests return 504 when checking the initial deployment (default 4)
         "use_precompiled_packages": true, // If possible, use C-extension packages which have been pre-compiled for AWS Lambda. Default true.
         "vpc_config": { // Optional Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) configuration for Lambda function
             "SubnetIds": [ "subnet-12345678" ], // Note: not all availability zones support Lambda!
diff --git a/zappa/cli.py b/zappa/cli.py
index d453f3149..8c5cf8774 100755
--- a/zappa/cli.py
+++ b/zappa/cli.py
@@ -2718,12 +2718,13 @@ def touch_endpoint(self, endpoint_url):
         # ready and requests will return 504 status_code until ready.
         # So, if we get a 504 status code, rerun the request up to 4 times or
         # until we don't get a 504 error
-        if req.status_code == 504:
+        check_status_code = 504
+        if req.status_code == check_status_code:
             i = 0
-            status_code = 504
-            while status_code == 504 and i <= 4:
+            touch_try_count = self.stage_config.get('touch_try_count', 4)
+
+            while req.status_code == check_status_code and i <= touch_try_count:
                 req = requests.get(endpoint_url + touch_path)
-                status_code = req.status_code
                 i += 1
 
         if req.status_code >= 500:
diff --git a/zappa/core.py b/zappa/core.py
index 9915f4cb1..93d728ea0 100644
--- a/zappa/core.py
+++ b/zappa/core.py
@@ -648,6 +648,9 @@ def splitpath(path):
                         with zipfile.ZipFile(cached_wheel_path) as zfile:
                             zfile.extractall(temp_project_path)
 
+            except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
+                print(e)
+                raise e
             except Exception as e:
                 print(e)
                 # XXX - What should we do here?
@@ -2235,7 +2238,6 @@ def stack_outputs(self, name):
         except botocore.client.ClientError:
             return {}
 
-
     def get_api_url(self, lambda_name, stage_name):
         """
         Given a lambda_name and stage_name, return a valid API URL.