diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/net/netfilter/ipvs.sh b/tools/testing/selftests/net/netfilter/ipvs.sh
index 4ceee9fb39495b..d3edb16cd4b3f6 100755
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/net/netfilter/ipvs.sh
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/net/netfilter/ipvs.sh
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ cleanup() {
 }
 
 server_listen() {
-	ip netns exec "$ns2" socat -u -4 TCP-LISTEN:8080,reuseaddr STDOUT > "${outfile}" &
+	ip netns exec "$ns2" timeout 5 socat -u -4 TCP-LISTEN:8080,reuseaddr STDOUT > "${outfile}" &
 	server_pid=$!
 	sleep 0.2
 }