diff --git a/.ci/load/scripts/load_agent.sh b/.ci/load/scripts/load_agent.sh
index 3b5166aa13..cc97c5a8ab 100755
--- a/.ci/load/scripts/load_agent.sh
+++ b/.ci/load/scripts/load_agent.sh
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 set -exuo pipefail 
 
 POLL_FREQ=1
+POLL_TIMEOUT=300
 
 LOCUST_LOCUSTFILE="../locust.py"
 LOCUST_PRINT_STATS=1
@@ -86,11 +87,16 @@ function appIsReady() {
 }
 
 function waitForApp() {
+    counter=1
     while :
     do
         if appIsReady; then 
             break 
+        elif [ $counter -gt $POLL_TIMEOUT ]; then
+            echo "Poll timeout exceeded. Exiting with error code: 1"
+            exit 1
         fi
+        ((counter++))
         sleep $POLL_FREQ;
     done
 }