diff --git a/sdks/python/apache_beam/runners/portability/sdk_container_builder.py b/sdks/python/apache_beam/runners/portability/sdk_container_builder.py
index d71254407d17..d1c6247e7800 100644
--- a/sdks/python/apache_beam/runners/portability/sdk_container_builder.py
+++ b/sdks/python/apache_beam/runners/portability/sdk_container_builder.py
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@
 import uuid
 from typing import Type
 
-from google.protobuf.duration_pb2 import Duration
 from google.protobuf.json_format import MessageToJson
 
 from apache_beam import version as beam_version
@@ -259,7 +258,7 @@ def _invoke_docker_build_and_push(self, container_image_name):
     source.storageSource.object = gcs_object
     build.source = source
     # TODO(zyichi): make timeout configurable
-    build.timeout = Duration().FromSeconds(seconds=7200)
+    build.timeout = '7200s'
 
     now = time.time()
     # operation = client.create_build(project_id=project_id, build=build)