diff --git a/docs/config_reference.rst b/docs/config_reference.rst
index f7930d3d5b..223a4f3e46 100644
--- a/docs/config_reference.rst
+++ b/docs/config_reference.rst
@@ -1257,12 +1257,12 @@ General Configuration
    The command-line option sets the configuration option to ``false``.
 
 
-.. js:attribute:: .general[].git_clone_timeout
+.. js:attribute:: .general[].git_timeout
 
   :required: No
   :default: 5
 
-  Timeout value in seconds that will be used while cloning git repositories.
+  Timeout value in seconds used when checking if a git repository exists.
 
 
 .. js:attribute:: .general[].remote_detect
diff --git a/docs/manpage.rst b/docs/manpage.rst
index fde8e3fcdb..e8d1055357 100644
--- a/docs/manpage.rst
+++ b/docs/manpage.rst
@@ -760,16 +760,16 @@ Here is an alphabetical list of the environment variables recognized by ReFrame:
       ================================== ==================
 
 
-.. envvar:: RFM_GIT_CLONE_TIMEOUT
+.. envvar:: RFM_GIT_TIMEOUT
 
-   Timeout in seconds for the ``git clone`` commands.
+   Timeout value in seconds used when checking if a git repository exists.
 
    .. table::
       :align: left
 
       ================================== ==================
       Associated command line option     N/A
-      Associated configuration parameter :js:attr:`git_clone_timeout` general configuration parameter.
+      Associated configuration parameter :js:attr:`git_timeout` general configuration parameter.
       ================================== ==================
 
 
diff --git a/reframe/core/pipeline.py b/reframe/core/pipeline.py
index 065db88545..b9347c041e 100644
--- a/reframe/core/pipeline.py
+++ b/reframe/core/pipeline.py
@@ -1296,7 +1296,7 @@ def _clone_to_stagedir(self, url):
         self.logger.debug(f'Cloning URL {url} into stage directory')
         osext.git_clone(
             self.sourcesdir, self._stagedir,
-            timeout=rt.runtime().get_option('general/0/git_clone_timeout')
+            timeout=rt.runtime().get_option('general/0/git_timeout')
         )
 
     @final
diff --git a/reframe/frontend/cli.py b/reframe/frontend/cli.py
index 538af97314..de6a167d8b 100644
--- a/reframe/frontend/cli.py
+++ b/reframe/frontend/cli.py
@@ -461,10 +461,11 @@ def main():
 
     # Options not associated with command-line arguments
     argparser.add_argument(
-        dest='git_clone_timeout',
-        envvar='RFM_GIT_CLONE_TIMEOUT',
-        configvar='general/git_clone_timeout',
-        help='Timeout in seconds of git clone commands'
+        dest='git_timeout',
+        envvar='RFM_GIT_TIMEOUT',
+        configvar='general/git_timeout',
+        help=('Timeout in seconds when checking if the url is a '
+              'valid repository.')
     )
     argparser.add_argument(
         dest='graylog_server',
diff --git a/reframe/schemas/config.json b/reframe/schemas/config.json
index 75b6c34f65..8f7c21a99a 100644
--- a/reframe/schemas/config.json
+++ b/reframe/schemas/config.json
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@
                     "check_search_recursive": {"type": "boolean"},
                     "clean_stagedir": {"type": "boolean"},
                     "colorize": {"type": "boolean"},
-                    "git_clone_timeout": {"type": "number"},
+                    "git_timeout": {"type": "number"},
                     "ignore_check_conflicts": {"type": "boolean"},
                     "trap_job_errors": {"type": "boolean"},
                     "keep_stage_files": {"type": "boolean"},
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@
         "general/check_search_recursive": false,
         "general/clean_stagedir": true,
         "general/colorize": true,
-        "general/git_clone_timeout": 5,
+        "general/git_timeout": 5,
         "general/ignore_check_conflicts": false,
         "general/trap_job_errors": false,
         "general/keep_stage_files": false,
diff --git a/reframe/utility/osext.py b/reframe/utility/osext.py
index 69f7b74bd3..6c1894b1f1 100644
--- a/reframe/utility/osext.py
+++ b/reframe/utility/osext.py
@@ -419,7 +419,8 @@ def git_clone(url, targetdir=None, timeout=5):
     '''Clone a git repository from a URL.
 
     :arg url: The URL to clone from.
-    :arg timeout: Timeout in seconds.
+    :arg timeout: Timeout in seconds when checking if the url is a valid
+         repository.
     :arg targetdir: The directory where the repository will be cloned to. If
         :class:`None`, a new directory will be created with the repository
         name as if ``git clone {url}`` was issued.
@@ -428,8 +429,7 @@ def git_clone(url, targetdir=None, timeout=5):
         raise ReframeError('git repository does not exist')
 
     targetdir = targetdir or ''
-    run_command(f'git clone {url} {targetdir}', check=True,
-                timeout=timeout)
+    run_command(f'git clone {url} {targetdir}', check=True)
 
 
 def git_repo_exists(url, timeout=5):
diff --git a/unittests/test_config.py b/unittests/test_config.py
index 55d6a438ed..45b5f90f1a 100644
--- a/unittests/test_config.py
+++ b/unittests/test_config.py
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ def test_select_subconfig_optional_section_absent():
     site_config = config.load_config('reframe/core/settings.py')
     site_config.select_subconfig()
     assert site_config.get('general/0/colorize') is True
-    assert site_config.get('general/0/git_clone_timeout') == 5
+    assert site_config.get('general/0/git_timeout') == 5
     assert site_config.get('general/verbose') == 0