diff --git a/scripts/evm b/scripts/evm
index 77b1b679f..e63e2e9dc 100644
--- a/scripts/evm
+++ b/scripts/evm
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 TESTRPC_PORT=${TESTRPC_PORT:-8545}
+MAX_RETRIES=120
 
 evm_running() {
   nc -z localhost "$TESTRPC_PORT" > /dev/null
 }
 
-ping_evm() {
+evm_ping() {
   PORT=$1
   curl --location --request POST "localhost:$PORT/" \
     --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
@@ -21,7 +22,13 @@ ping_evm() {
 evm_start() {
   echo "Starting our own evm instance at port $TESTRPC_PORT"
   npx hardhat node --port "$TESTRPC_PORT" > /dev/null &
-  while ! ping_evm $TESTRPC_PORT; do
+  retries=0
+  while ! evm_ping $TESTRPC_PORT; do
+    ((retries=retries+1))
+    if [ $retries -gt $MAX_RETRIES ]; then
+      echo "Timeout waiting for evm instance"
+      exit 1
+    fi
     sleep 1
   done
 }