diff --git a/spanner/session.go b/spanner/session.go
index 3e587095a007..ec0046444bbd 100644
--- a/spanner/session.go
+++ b/spanner/session.go
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ func (s *session) String() string {
 
 // ping verifies if the session is still alive in Cloud Spanner.
 func (s *session) ping() error {
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), time.Second)
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
 
 	// Start parent span that doesn't record.