diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/network_helpers.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/network_helpers.c
index b82f572641b7d..ed4aeee1555dc 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/network_helpers.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/network_helpers.c
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@
 			errno = __save;					\
 })
 
+#define CONNECT_MIN_TIMEOUT_MS	5000
+
 struct ipv4_packet pkt_v4 = {
 	.eth.h_proto = __bpf_constant_htons(ETH_P_IP),
 	.iph.ihl = 5,
@@ -291,6 +293,12 @@ int client_socket(int family, int type,
 	return -1;
 }
 
+static int connect_timeout_ms(const struct network_helper_opts *opts)
+{
+	/* Enforce a minimum connect timeout value */
+	return MAX(opts->timeout_ms, CONNECT_MIN_TIMEOUT_MS);
+}
+
 int connect_to_addr(int type, const struct sockaddr_storage *addr, socklen_t addrlen,
 		    const struct network_helper_opts *opts)
 {
@@ -305,13 +313,35 @@ int connect_to_addr(int type, const struct sockaddr_storage *addr, socklen_t add
 		return -1;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Override timeout configuration with a larger value for the
+	 * connection
+	 */
+	if (settimeo(fd, connect_timeout_ms(opts))) {
+		log_err("Failed to set connect timeout");
+		goto close;
+	}
+
 	if (connect(fd, (const struct sockaddr *)addr, addrlen)) {
-		log_err("Failed to connect to server");
-		save_errno_close(fd);
-		return -1;
+		log_err("Failed to connect");
+		goto close;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * If the timeout configured by the test is different from the
+	 * connect timeout, restore it
+	 */
+	if (opts->timeout_ms != CONNECT_MIN_TIMEOUT_MS &&
+	    settimeo(fd, opts->timeout_ms)) {
+		log_err("Failed to set timeout for connected socket");
+		goto close;
 	}
 
 	return fd;
+
+close:
+	save_errno_close(fd);
+	return -1;
 }
 
 int connect_to_addr_str(int family, int type, const char *addr_str, __u16 port,
@@ -424,7 +454,8 @@ int make_sockaddr(int family, const char *addr_str, __u16 port,
 			*len = sizeof(*sin6);
 		return 0;
 	} else if (family == AF_UNIX) {
-		/* Note that we always use abstract unix sockets to avoid having
+		/*
+		 * Note that we always use abstract unix sockets to avoid having
 		 * to clean up leftover files.
 		 */
 		struct sockaddr_un *sun = (void *)addr;
@@ -865,7 +896,8 @@ static bool is_ethernet(const u_char *packet)
 	memcpy(&arphdr_type, packet + 8, 2);
 	arphdr_type = ntohs(arphdr_type);
 
-	/* Except the following cases, the protocol type contains the
+	/*
+	 * Except the following cases, the protocol type contains the
 	 * Ethernet protocol type for the packet.
 	 *
 	 * https://www.tcpdump.org/linktypes/LINKTYPE_LINUX_SLL2.html
@@ -1033,19 +1065,22 @@ static void *traffic_monitor_thread(void *arg)
 		if (!packet)
 			continue;
 
-		/* According to the man page of pcap_dump(), first argument
+		/*
+		 * According to the man page of pcap_dump(), first argument
 		 * is the pcap_dumper_t pointer even it's argument type is
 		 * u_char *.
 		 */
 		pcap_dump((u_char *)dumper, &header, packet);
 
-		/* Not sure what other types of packets look like. Here, we
+		/*
+		 * Not sure what other types of packets look like. Here, we
 		 * parse only Ethernet and compatible packets.
 		 */
 		if (!is_ethernet(packet))
 			continue;
 
-		/* Skip SLL2 header
+		/*
+		 * Skip SLL2 header
 		 * https://www.tcpdump.org/linktypes/LINKTYPE_LINUX_SLL2.html
 		 *
 		 * Although the document doesn't mention that, the payload
@@ -1079,7 +1114,8 @@ static void *traffic_monitor_thread(void *arg)
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-/* Prepare the pcap handle to capture packets.
+/*
+ * Prepare the pcap handle to capture packets.
  *
  * This pcap is non-blocking and immediate mode is enabled to receive
  * captured packets as soon as possible.  The snaplen is set to 1024 bytes
@@ -1150,7 +1186,8 @@ static void encode_test_name(char *buf, size_t len, const char *test_name, const
 
 #define PCAP_DIR "/tmp/tmon_pcap"
 
-/* Start to monitor the network traffic in the given network namespace.
+/*
+ * Start to monitor the network traffic in the given network namespace.
  *
  * netns: the name of the network namespace to monitor. If NULL, the
  *        current network namespace is monitored.
@@ -1255,7 +1292,8 @@ static void traffic_monitor_release(struct tmonitor_ctx *ctx)
 	free(ctx);
 }
 
-/* Stop the network traffic monitor.
+/*
+ * Stop the network traffic monitor.
  *
  * ctx: the context returned by traffic_monitor_start()
  */