diff --git a/packages/wait-for-port.nix b/packages/wait-for-port/package.nix
similarity index 61%
rename from packages/wait-for-port.nix
rename to packages/wait-for-port/package.nix
index 9581114..8f5ebf3 100644
--- a/packages/wait-for-port.nix
+++ b/packages/wait-for-port/package.nix
@@ -4,11 +4,5 @@ writeShellApplication {
   # beware: the first result on nixos search, netcat-gnu, is outdated and
   # broken.
   runtimeInputs = [ netcat ];
-  text = ''
-    if [[ $# -eq 0 ]] ; then
-        nc
-        exit 1
-    fi
-    until nc -z localhost "$@"; do sleep 1; done
-  '';
+  text = builtins.readFile ./wait-for-port.sh;
 }
diff --git a/packages/wait-for-port/wait-for-port.sh b/packages/wait-for-port/wait-for-port.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..af19dfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/wait-for-port/wait-for-port.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+while getopts "t:" opt; do
+	case "$opt" in
+		t)
+			DEADLINE="$((EPOCHSECONDS + OPTARG))"
+			shift
+			shift
+			;;
+		"?")
+			>&2 echo "Invalid option"
+			exit 1
+			;;
+	esac
+done
+
+until nc -z localhost "$@"; do
+	if [[ -n "${DEADLINE-}" && "$DEADLINE" -le "$EPOCHSECONDS" ]]; then
+		>&2 echo "Timeout"
+		exit 1
+	fi
+	sleep 1
+done