diff --git a/test/e2e/test/elasticsearch/checks_k8s.go b/test/e2e/test/elasticsearch/checks_k8s.go
index 2bb329d97e..6cb9e37273 100644
--- a/test/e2e/test/elasticsearch/checks_k8s.go
+++ b/test/e2e/test/elasticsearch/checks_k8s.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"sort"
+	"time"
 
 	esv1 "github.com/elastic/cloud-on-k8s/pkg/apis/elasticsearch/v1"
 	"github.com/elastic/cloud-on-k8s/pkg/controller/common/certificates"
@@ -22,6 +23,15 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
 )
 
+const (
+	// RollingUpgradeTimeout is used for checking a rolling upgrade is complete.
+	// Most tests require less than 5 minutes for all Pods to be running and ready,
+	// but it occasionally takes longer for various reasons (long Pod creation time, long volume binding, etc.).
+	// We use a longer timeout here to not be impacted too much by those external factors, and only fail
+	// if things seem to be stuck.
+	RollingUpgradeTimeout = 15 * time.Minute
+)
+
 func (b Builder) CheckK8sTestSteps(k *test.K8sClient) test.StepList {
 	return test.StepList{
 		CheckCertificateAuthority(b, k),
@@ -229,9 +239,9 @@ func CheckESPassword(b Builder, k *test.K8sClient) test.Step {
 func CheckExpectedPodsEventuallyReady(b Builder, k *test.K8sClient) test.Step {
 	return test.Step{
 		Name: "All expected Pods should eventually be ready",
-		Test: test.Eventually(func() error {
+		Test: test.UntilSuccess(func() error {
 			return checkExpectedPodsReady(b, k)
-		}),
+		}, RollingUpgradeTimeout),
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/test/elasticsearch/checks_keystore.go b/test/e2e/test/elasticsearch/checks_keystore.go
index 5c3091c77a..22fec214e4 100644
--- a/test/e2e/test/elasticsearch/checks_keystore.go
+++ b/test/e2e/test/elasticsearch/checks_keystore.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import (
 func CheckESKeystoreEntries(k *test.K8sClient, b Builder, expectedKeys []string) test.Step {
 	return test.Step{
 		Name: "Elasticsearch secure settings should eventually be set in all nodes keystore",
-		Test: test.Eventually(func() error {
+		Test: test.UntilSuccess(func() error {
 			pods, err := k.GetPods(test.ESPodListOptions(b.Elasticsearch.Namespace, b.Elasticsearch.Name)...)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
@@ -59,6 +59,6 @@ func CheckESKeystoreEntries(k *test.K8sClient, b Builder, expectedKeys []string)
 			}
 
 			return nil
-		}),
+		}, RollingUpgradeTimeout),
 	}
 }
diff --git a/test/e2e/test/utils.go b/test/e2e/test/utils.go
index 5f7cd90b9c..d2d54321b9 100644
--- a/test/e2e/test/utils.go
+++ b/test/e2e/test/utils.go
@@ -66,16 +66,19 @@ func ExitOnErr(err error) {
 	}
 }
 
-// Eventually runs the given function until success,
-// with a default timeout
+// Eventually runs the given function until success with a default timeout.
 func Eventually(f func() error) func(*testing.T) {
+	return UntilSuccess(f, ctx.TestTimeout)
+}
+
+// UntilSuccess executes f until it succeeds, or the timeout is reached.
+func UntilSuccess(f func() error, timeout time.Duration) func(*testing.T) {
 	return func(t *testing.T) {
-		defaultTimeout := Ctx().TestTimeout
-		fmt.Printf("Retries (%s timeout): ", defaultTimeout)
+		fmt.Printf("Retries (%s timeout): ", timeout)
 		err := retry.UntilSuccess(func() error {
 			fmt.Print(".") // super modern progress bar 2.0!
 			return f()
-		}, defaultTimeout, DefaultRetryDelay)
+		}, timeout, DefaultRetryDelay)
 		fmt.Println()
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 	}