diff --git a/src/plugins/aws/ssh.ts b/src/plugins/aws/ssh.ts
index 056720d..85cce00 100644
--- a/src/plugins/aws/ssh.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/aws/ssh.ts
@@ -22,11 +22,7 @@ import {
   AwsSshRoleRequest,
 } from "./types";
 
-/** Maximum number of attempts to start an SSH session
- *
- * Each attempt consumes ~ 1 s.
- */
-const MAX_SSH_RETRIES = 6;
+const PROPAGATION_TIMEOUT_LIMIT_MS = 30 * 1000;
 
 /** The name of the SessionManager port forwarding document. This document is managed by AWS.  */
 const START_SSH_SESSION_DOCUMENT_NAME = "AWS-StartSSHSession";
@@ -84,7 +80,7 @@ export const awsSshProvider: SshProvider<
 
   friendlyName: "AWS",
 
-  maxRetries: MAX_SSH_RETRIES,
+  propagationTimeoutMs: PROPAGATION_TIMEOUT_LIMIT_MS,
 
   preTestAccessPropagationArgs: () => undefined,
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/google/ssh.ts b/src/plugins/google/ssh.ts
index 889fe67..8b85666 100644
--- a/src/plugins/google/ssh.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/google/ssh.ts
@@ -14,11 +14,8 @@ import { ensureGcpSshInstall } from "./install";
 import { importSshKey } from "./ssh-key";
 import { GcpSshPermissionSpec, GcpSshRequest } from "./types";
 
-/** Maximum number of attempts to start an SSH session
- *
- * The length of each attempt varies based on the type of error from a few seconds to < 1s
- */
-const MAX_SSH_RETRIES = 24;
+// It typically takes < 1 minute for access to propagate on GCP, so set the time limit to 2 minutes.
+const PROPAGATION_TIMEOUT_LIMIT_MS = 2 * 60 * 1000;
 
 /**
  * There are 7 cases of unprovisioned access in Google Cloud.
@@ -74,7 +71,7 @@ export const gcpSshProvider: SshProvider<
 
   loginRequiredPattern: /You do not currently have an active account selected/,
 
-  maxRetries: MAX_SSH_RETRIES,
+  propagationTimeoutMs: PROPAGATION_TIMEOUT_LIMIT_MS,
 
   preTestAccessPropagationArgs: (cmdArgs) => {
     if (isSudoCommand(cmdArgs)) {
diff --git a/src/plugins/ssh/index.ts b/src/plugins/ssh/index.ts
index 4155abb..476201b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/ssh/index.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/ssh/index.ts
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ const accessPropagationGuard = (
 ) => {
   let isEphemeralAccessDeniedException = false;
   let isLoginException = false;
-  const beforeStart = Date.now();
 
   child.stderr.on("data", (chunk) => {
     const chunkString: string = chunk.toString("utf-8");
@@ -63,11 +62,7 @@ const accessPropagationGuard = (
       chunkString.match(message.pattern)
     );
 
-    if (
-      match &&
-      Date.now() <=
-        beforeStart + (match.validationWindowMs || DEFAULT_VALIDATION_WINDOW_MS)
-    ) {
+    if (match) {
       isEphemeralAccessDeniedException = true;
     }
 
@@ -136,7 +131,7 @@ type SpawnSshNodeOptions = {
   credential?: AwsCredentials;
   command: string;
   args: string[];
-  attemptsRemaining: number;
+  endTime: number;
   abortController?: AbortController;
   detached?: boolean;
   stdio: [StdioNull, StdioNull, StdioPipe];
@@ -151,13 +146,15 @@ async function spawnSshNode(
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     const provider = SSH_PROVIDERS[options.provider];
 
-    const attemptsRemaining = options.attemptsRemaining;
     if (options.debug) {
       const gerund = options.isAccessPropagationPreTest
         ? "Pre-testing"
         : "Trying";
+      const remainingSeconds = ((options.endTime - Date.now()) / 1e3).toFixed(
+        1
+      );
       print2(
-        `Waiting for access to propagate. ${gerund} SSH session... (remaining attempts: ${attemptsRemaining})`
+        `Waiting for access to propagate. ${gerund} SSH session... (will wait up to ${remainingSeconds} seconds)`
       );
     }
 
@@ -180,23 +177,17 @@ async function spawnSshNode(
       // In the case of ephemeral AccessDenied exceptions due to unpropagated
       // permissions, continually retry access until success
       if (!isAccessPropagated()) {
-        if (attemptsRemaining <= 0) {
+        if (options.endTime < Date.now()) {
           reject(
-            `Access did not propagate through ${provider.friendlyName} before max retry attempts were exceeded. Please contact support@p0.dev for assistance.`
+            `Access did not propagate through ${provider.friendlyName} in time. Please contact support@p0.dev for assistance.`
           );
           return;
         }
 
         delay(RETRY_DELAY_MS)
-          .then(() =>
-            spawnSshNode({
-              ...options,
-              attemptsRemaining: attemptsRemaining - 1,
-            })
-          )
+          .then(() => spawnSshNode(options))
           .then((code) => resolve(code))
           .catch(reject);
-
         return;
       } else if (isLoginException()) {
         reject(
@@ -352,7 +343,8 @@ const preTestAccessPropagationIfNeeded = async <
   proxyCommand: string[],
   credential: P extends SshProvider<infer _PR, infer _O, infer _SR, infer C>
     ? C
-    : undefined
+    : undefined,
+  endTime: number
 ) => {
   const testCmdArgs = sshProvider.preTestAccessPropagationArgs(cmdArgs);
 
@@ -369,7 +361,7 @@ const preTestAccessPropagationIfNeeded = async <
       stdio: ["inherit", "inherit", "pipe"],
       debug: cmdArgs.debug,
       provider: request.type,
-      attemptsRemaining: sshProvider.maxRetries,
+      endTime: endTime,
       isAccessPropagationPreTest: true,
     });
   }
@@ -413,12 +405,15 @@ export const sshOrScp = async (args: {
     }
   }
 
+  const endTime = Date.now() + sshProvider.propagationTimeoutMs;
+
   const exitCode = await preTestAccessPropagationIfNeeded(
     sshProvider,
     request,
     cmdArgs,
     proxyCommand,
-    credential
+    credential,
+    endTime
   );
 
   // Only exit if there was an error when pre-testing
@@ -434,6 +429,6 @@ export const sshOrScp = async (args: {
     stdio: ["inherit", "inherit", "pipe"],
     debug: cmdArgs.debug,
     provider: request.type,
-    attemptsRemaining: sshProvider.maxRetries,
+    endTime: endTime,
   });
 };
diff --git a/src/types/ssh.ts b/src/types/ssh.ts
index 99d867f..e98b2c1 100644
--- a/src/types/ssh.ts
+++ b/src/types/ssh.ts
@@ -57,8 +57,8 @@ export type SshProvider<
   /** Regex match for error string indicating that CSP login is required */
   loginRequiredPattern?: RegExp;
 
-  /** Maximum number of times to call this provider's CLI SSH command */
-  maxRetries: number;
+  /** Amount of time, in ms, to wait between granting access and giving up on attempting an SSH connection */
+  propagationTimeoutMs: number;
 
   /** Arguments for a pre-test command to verify access propagation prior
    * to actually logging in the user to the ssh session.