diff --git a/src/start.sh b/src/start.sh
index fe7724a..434722c 100644
--- a/src/start.sh
+++ b/src/start.sh
@@ -75,11 +75,15 @@ start() {
         sleep 0.5
     done
 
-    # Wait until the FTL log contains the "FTL started" message before continuing, timeout after 10 seconds
+    # Set FTL startup timeout from environment variable, default to 30 seconds
+    local FTL_START_TIMEOUT="${FTL_START_TIMEOUT:-30}"
+
+    # Wait until the FTL log contains the "FTL started" message before continuing
     # exit if we do not find it
-    pihole-FTL wait-for '########## FTL started' /var/log/pihole/FTL.log 10 0 > /dev/null
+    pihole-FTL wait-for '########## FTL started' /var/log/pihole/FTL.log "${FTL_START_TIMEOUT}" 0 > /dev/null
     if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-        echo "  [✗] FTL did not start - stopping container"
+        echo "  [✗] FTL did not start within ${FTL_START_TIMEOUT} seconds - stopping container"
+        echo "  [i] If this continues to happen, consider increasing the timeout by setting the FTL_START_TIMEOUT environment variable to a higher value (in seconds)."
         exit 1
     fi