diff --git a/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/intellij/util/DebugModeHandler.java b/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/intellij/util/DebugModeHandler.java
index b846d4eca..fd94da5bd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/intellij/util/DebugModeHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/intellij/util/DebugModeHandler.java
@@ -165,7 +165,8 @@ private void createAndRunDebugConfiguration(ProgressIndicator indicator, Liberty
      */
     private String waitForSocketActivation(ProgressIndicator monitor, LibertyModule libertyModule, String host, int debugPort) throws Exception {
         byte[] handshakeString = "JDWP-Handshake".getBytes(StandardCharsets.US_ASCII);
-        int retryLimit = 60; // wait up to 3 minutes for dev mode to start (polling rate 20 per minute, 3s)
+        int retryLimit = 3600; // seconds to wait for Liberty dev mode to start. It can take 4-5 minutes during testing.
+        int retryInc = 3; // time to wait after each try
 
         // Retrieve the location of the server.env in the liberty installation at the default location (wpl/usr/servers/<serverName>).
         Path serverEnvPath = getServerEnvPath(libertyModule);
@@ -173,7 +174,7 @@ private String waitForSocketActivation(ProgressIndicator monitor, LibertyModule
         boolean cleanStart = serverEnvPath == null;
         Path serverEnvBakPath = null;
 
-        for (int retryCount = 0; retryCount < retryLimit; retryCount++) {
+        for (int retryCount = 0; retryCount < retryLimit; retryCount+=retryInc) {
             // check if cancelled
             if (monitor.isCanceled()) {
                 return null;
@@ -210,7 +211,7 @@ private String waitForSocketActivation(ProgressIndicator monitor, LibertyModule
                     LOGGER.trace(String.format("ConnectException waiting for runtime to start on port %d", debugPort));
                 }
             }
-            TimeUnit.SECONDS.sleep(3);
+            TimeUnit.SECONDS.sleep(retryInc);
         }
         throw new Exception(LocalizedResourceUtil.getMessage("cannot.attach.debugger.host.port", host, String.format("%d",debugPort)));
     }