diff --git a/builder/digitalocean/builder.go b/builder/digitalocean/builder.go
index 6519d30f5..4c515b900 100644
--- a/builder/digitalocean/builder.go
+++ b/builder/digitalocean/builder.go
@@ -95,7 +95,9 @@ func (b *Builder) Run(ctx context.Context, ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook) (pack
 		},
 		new(stepShutdown),
 		new(stepPowerOff),
-		new(stepSnapshot),
+		&stepSnapshot{
+			snapshotTimeout: b.config.SnapshotTimeout,
+		},
 	}
 
 	// Run the steps
diff --git a/builder/digitalocean/builder_test.go b/builder/digitalocean/builder_test.go
index 9ef7c0ad7..70ec6fea9 100644
--- a/builder/digitalocean/builder_test.go
+++ b/builder/digitalocean/builder_test.go
@@ -190,7 +190,46 @@ func TestBuilderPrepare_StateTimeout(t *testing.T) {
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("should have error")
 	}
+}
+
+func TestBuilderPrepare_SnapshotTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+	var b Builder
+	config := testConfig()
+
+	// Test default
+	warnings, err := b.Prepare(config)
+	if len(warnings) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", warnings)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should not have error: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if b.config.SnapshotTimeout != 60*time.Minute {
+		t.Errorf("invalid: %s", b.config.SnapshotTimeout)
+	}
+
+	// Test set
+	config["snapshot_timeout"] = "15m"
+	b = Builder{}
+	warnings, err = b.Prepare(config)
+	if len(warnings) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", warnings)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("should not have error: %s", err)
+	}
 
+	// Test bad
+	config["snapshot_timeout"] = "badstring"
+	b = Builder{}
+	warnings, err = b.Prepare(config)
+	if len(warnings) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: %#v", warnings)
+	}
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("should have error")
+	}
 }
 
 func TestBuilderPrepare_PrivateNetworking(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/builder/digitalocean/config.go b/builder/digitalocean/config.go
index 451852829..25b28a3bc 100644
--- a/builder/digitalocean/config.go
+++ b/builder/digitalocean/config.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	SnapshotName      string        `mapstructure:"snapshot_name"`
 	SnapshotRegions   []string      `mapstructure:"snapshot_regions"`
 	StateTimeout      time.Duration `mapstructure:"state_timeout"`
+	SnapshotTimeout   time.Duration `mapstructure:"snapshot_timeout"`
 	DropletName       string        `mapstructure:"droplet_name"`
 	UserData          string        `mapstructure:"user_data"`
 	UserDataFile      string        `mapstructure:"user_data_file"`
@@ -88,6 +89,11 @@ func NewConfig(raws ...interface{}) (*Config, []string, error) {
 		c.StateTimeout = 6 * time.Minute
 	}
 
+	if c.SnapshotTimeout == 0 {
+		// Default to 60 minutes timeout, waiting for snapshot action to finish
+		c.SnapshotTimeout = 60 * time.Minute
+	}
+
 	var errs *packer.MultiError
 	if es := c.Comm.Prepare(&c.ctx); len(es) > 0 {
 		errs = packer.MultiErrorAppend(errs, es...)
diff --git a/builder/digitalocean/step_snapshot.go b/builder/digitalocean/step_snapshot.go
index f3c9430f1..511c3a377 100644
--- a/builder/digitalocean/step_snapshot.go
+++ b/builder/digitalocean/step_snapshot.go
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hashicorp/packer/packer"
 )
 
-type stepSnapshot struct{}
+type stepSnapshot struct {
+	snapshotTimeout time.Duration
+}
 
 func (s *stepSnapshot) Run(ctx context.Context, state multistep.StateBag) multistep.StepAction {
 	client := state.Get("client").(*godo.Client)
@@ -31,9 +33,11 @@ func (s *stepSnapshot) Run(ctx context.Context, state multistep.StateBag) multis
 	}
 
 	// With the pending state over, verify that we're in the active state
+	// because action can take a long time and may depend on the size of the final snapshot,
+	// the timeout is parameterized
 	ui.Say("Waiting for snapshot to complete...")
 	if err := waitForActionState(godo.ActionCompleted, dropletId, action.ID,
-		client, 20*time.Minute); err != nil {
+		client, s.snapshotTimeout); err != nil {
 		// If we get an error the first time, actually report it
 		err := fmt.Errorf("Error waiting for snapshot: %s", err)
 		state.Put("error", err)
diff --git a/website/source/docs/builders/digitalocean.html.md b/website/source/docs/builders/digitalocean.html.md
index 1d382869d..8df5c9df0 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/builders/digitalocean.html.md
+++ b/website/source/docs/builders/digitalocean.html.md
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ builder.
     droplet to enter a desired state (such as "active") before timing out. The
     default state timeout is "6m".
 
+-   `snapshot_timeout` (string) - The time to wait, as a duration string, for a
+    snapshot action to complete (e.g snapshot creation) before timing out. The
+    default snapshot timeout is "60m".
+
 -   `user_data` (string) - User data to launch with the Droplet. Packer will
     not automatically wait for a user script to finish before shutting down the
     instance this must be handled in a provisioner.