diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index b9bbd5d5..ceec824a 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ galera_tmp_table_size: 32M
 
 galera_file_limits: 65535
 galera_wait_timeout: 3600
+# Increase this value if large SST transfers cause mysql startup to fail due
+# to timeout
+galera_startup_timeout: 1800
 
 ## innodb options
 galera_innodb_buffer_pool_size: 4096M
diff --git a/templates/mysql_defaults.j2 b/templates/mysql_defaults.j2
index b399e216..4c056e0b 100644
--- a/templates/mysql_defaults.j2
+++ b/templates/mysql_defaults.j2
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 # How long to wait for successful mysql startup
 # Startup can take a while if it requires a galera state transfer.
-MYSQLD_STARTUP_TIMEOUT=1800
+MYSQLD_STARTUP_TIMEOUT={{ galera_startup_timeout }}
 
 ulimit -n  {{ calculated_max_connections }}
 ulimit -Hn  {{ calculated_max_connections }}
diff --git a/templates/systemd.timeout.conf.j2 b/templates/systemd.timeout.conf.j2
index 74b9b1bd..5808c61c 100644
--- a/templates/systemd.timeout.conf.j2
+++ b/templates/systemd.timeout.conf.j2
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@
 [Service]
 # How long to wait for successful mysql startup
 # Startup can take a while if it requires a galera state transfer.
-TimeoutStartSec=1800
+TimeoutStartSec={{ galera_startup_timeout }}