diff --git a/src/vs/platform/terminal/common/terminal.ts b/src/vs/platform/terminal/common/terminal.ts
index 3a449fbecf2..ba334c728b1 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/terminal/common/terminal.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/terminal/common/terminal.ts
@@ -392,6 +392,12 @@ export enum HeartbeatConstants {
 	 * The duration between heartbeats
 	 */
 	BeatInterval = 5000,
+	/**
+	 * The duration of the first heartbeat while the pty host is starting up. This is much larger
+	 * than the regular BeatInterval to accomodate slow machines, we still want to warn about the
+	 * pty host's unresponsiveness eventually though.
+	 */
+	ConnectingBeatInterval = 20000,
 	/**
 	 * Defines a multiplier for BeatInterval for how long to wait before starting the second wait
 	 * timer.
diff --git a/src/vs/platform/terminal/node/ptyHostService.ts b/src/vs/platform/terminal/node/ptyHostService.ts
index eb27e7d58f9..3679445c140 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/terminal/node/ptyHostService.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/terminal/node/ptyHostService.ts
@@ -149,8 +149,7 @@ export class PtyHostService extends Disposable implements IPtyService {
 		// Setup heartbeat service and trigger a heartbeat immediately to reset the timeouts
 		const heartbeatService = ProxyChannel.toService<IHeartbeatService>(client.getChannel(TerminalIpcChannels.Heartbeat));
 		heartbeatService.onBeat(() => this._handleHeartbeat());
-		// TODO: Starting the heartbeat tracking now causes problems
-		this._handleHeartbeat();
+		this._handleHeartbeat(true);
 
 		// Handle exit
 		this._register(connection.onDidProcessExit(e => {
@@ -351,9 +350,9 @@ export class PtyHostService extends Disposable implements IPtyService {
 		this._connection.store.dispose();
 	}
 
-	private _handleHeartbeat() {
+	private _handleHeartbeat(isConnecting?: boolean) {
 		this._clearHeartbeatTimeouts();
-		this._heartbeatFirstTimeout = setTimeout(() => this._handleHeartbeatFirstTimeout(), HeartbeatConstants.BeatInterval * HeartbeatConstants.FirstWaitMultiplier);
+		this._heartbeatFirstTimeout = setTimeout(() => this._handleHeartbeatFirstTimeout(), isConnecting ? HeartbeatConstants.ConnectingBeatInterval : (HeartbeatConstants.BeatInterval * HeartbeatConstants.FirstWaitMultiplier));
 		if (!this._isResponsive) {
 			this._isResponsive = true;
 			this._onPtyHostResponsive.fire();