diff --git a/guix/scripts/offload.scm b/guix/scripts/offload.scm
index 578b3b9888..8c6132e7c3 100644
--- a/guix/scripts/offload.scm
+++ b/guix/scripts/offload.scm
@@ -220,7 +220,12 @@ (define* (open-ssh-session machine #:optional max-silent-time)
         (session (make-session #:user (build-machine-user machine)
                                #:host (build-machine-name machine)
                                #:port (build-machine-port machine)
-                               #:timeout 10       ;initial timeout (seconds)
+                               ;; Multiple derivations may be offloaded in
+                               ;; parallel, and when there is a large amount
+                               ;; of data to be sent, it can choke lower
+                               ;; bandwidth connections and cause timeouts, so
+                               ;; set it to a large enough value.
+                               #:timeout 30 ;initial timeout (seconds)
                                ;; #:log-verbosity 'protocol
                                #:identity (build-machine-private-key machine)