diff --git a/ojdbc-provider-oci/README.md b/ojdbc-provider-oci/README.md
index 10b494e5..2479e33b 100644
--- a/ojdbc-provider-oci/README.md
+++ b/ojdbc-provider-oci/README.md
@@ -256,7 +256,12 @@ in Optional Parameters</td>
   <td><b>OCI_INSTANCE_PRINCIPAL</b></td>
   <td>Instance Principal Authentication</td>
   <td>&nbsp;</td>
-  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td>
+    <code>OCI_INSTANCE_PRINCIPAL_TIMEOUT</code> <br>
+    <i>(Optional)</i> Specifies the maximum time, in seconds, to wait for the instance principal authentication process to complete.<br>
+    The value must be a valid integer (e.g., <code>5</code>, <code>30</code>). Decimal values are not allowed.<br>
+    <b>Default:</b> <code>5</code> seconds
+  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
   <td><b>OCI_RESOURCE_PRINCIPAL</b></td>
@@ -763,6 +768,15 @@ common set of parameters.
       DEFAULT
       </td>
     </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>instancePrincipalTimeout</td>
+      <td>
+        Specifies the maximum time, in seconds, to wait for instance principal authentication to complete.<br>
+        The value must be a valid integer (e.g., <code>5</code>, <code>10</code>). Decimal values are not accepted.
+      </td>
+      <td>A positive integer</td>
+      <td><code>5</code></td>
+    </tr>
   </tbody>
 </table>
 
@@ -815,7 +829,8 @@ OCI configuration file
 <dd>
 Authenticate as an <a href="https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/Identity/Tasks/callingservicesfrominstances.htm">
 instance principal
-</a>.
+</a>.<br>
+You may optionally configure the timeout for this authentication using the <code>instancePrincipalTimeout</code> parameter.
 </dd>
 <dt>resource-principal</dt>
 <dd>
diff --git a/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/authentication/AuthenticationDetailsFactory.java b/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/authentication/AuthenticationDetailsFactory.java
index 5216bda7..ff0b3238 100644
--- a/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/authentication/AuthenticationDetailsFactory.java
+++ b/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/authentication/AuthenticationDetailsFactory.java
@@ -108,6 +108,13 @@ public final class AuthenticationDetailsFactory
    */
   public static final Parameter<String> USERNAME = Parameter.create();
 
+  /**
+   * Timeout in seconds for instance principal authentication.
+   * Optional – defaults to 5 seconds if not explicitly configured.
+   */
+  public static final Parameter<Integer> INSTANCE_PRINCIPAL_TIMEOUT =
+    Parameter.create();
+
   /**
    * <p>
    * An OCI region provided by instances of
@@ -187,7 +194,7 @@ private static AbstractAuthenticationDetailsProvider getAuthenticationDetails(
       case CLOUD_SHELL:
         return cloudShellAuthentication();
       case INSTANCE_PRINCIPAL:
-        return instancePrincipalAuthentication();
+        return instancePrincipalAuthentication(parameterSet);
       case RESOURCE_PRINCIPAL:
         return resourcePrincipalAuthentication();
       case INTERACTIVE:
@@ -312,7 +319,7 @@ private static AbstractAuthenticationDetailsProvider getAuthenticationDetails(
     }
 
     try {
-      return instancePrincipalAuthentication();
+      return instancePrincipalAuthentication(parameters);
     }
     catch (RuntimeException notComputeInstance) {
       previousFailure.addSuppressed(
@@ -332,17 +339,23 @@ private static AbstractAuthenticationDetailsProvider getAuthenticationDetails(
    * </p><p>
    * It is thought that authentication as an instance principal should not take
    * more than a few seconds to complete, so this method will throw an
-   * {@code IllegalStateException} if a timeout of 5 seconds is exceeded.
+   * {@code IllegalStateException} if the operation exceeds the configured
+   * timeout (5 seconds by default).
+   * </p><p>
+   * The timeout can be overridden using the optional
+   * {@code INSTANCE_PRINCIPAL_TIMEOUT} parameter (value in seconds), which can
+   * be provided in the URI query string.
    * </p>
    * @return Authentication details for an instance principal. Not null.
    * @throws IllegalStateException If the current environment is not a compute
    * instance.
    */
   private static InstancePrincipalsAuthenticationDetailsProvider
-    instancePrincipalAuthentication() {
+    instancePrincipalAuthentication(ParameterSet parameters) {
+    int timeoutSeconds = parameters.getOptional(INSTANCE_PRINCIPAL_TIMEOUT);
     try {
       return InstancePrincipalAuthenticationTask.FUTURE
-        .get(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        .get(timeoutSeconds, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
     }
     catch (ExecutionException exception) {
       throw new IllegalStateException(
@@ -356,8 +369,8 @@ private static AbstractAuthenticationDetailsProvider getAuthenticationDetails(
     }
     catch (TimeoutException timeoutException) {
       throw new IllegalStateException(
-        "Authentication as an instance principal did not complete within" +
-          " 5 seconds",
+        "Authentication as an instance principal did not complete within "
+         + timeoutSeconds + " seconds",
         timeoutException);
     }
   }
diff --git a/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/configuration/OciConfigurationParameters.java b/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/configuration/OciConfigurationParameters.java
index 6203e5e4..fad3015c 100644
--- a/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/configuration/OciConfigurationParameters.java
+++ b/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/configuration/OciConfigurationParameters.java
@@ -92,6 +92,16 @@ private OciConfigurationParameters(){}
       .addParameter("OCI_FINGERPRINT", FINGERPRINT)
       .addParameter("OCI_KEY_FILE", PRIVATE_KEY)
       .addParameter("OCI_PASS_PHRASE", PASS_PHRASE)
+      .addParameter("OCI_INSTANCE_PRINCIPAL_TIMEOUT", INSTANCE_PRINCIPAL_TIMEOUT,
+         5,
+         s -> {
+           try {
+            return Integer.parseInt(s);
+           }catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+              throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Invalid value for " +
+                "OCI_INSTANCE_PRINCIPAL_TIMEOUT: " + s + ". The value must be an integer.");
+           }
+         })
       .build();
 
   /**
diff --git a/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/resource/OciResourceProvider.java b/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/resource/OciResourceProvider.java
index 84379050..c94fdeea 100644
--- a/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/resource/OciResourceProvider.java
+++ b/ojdbc-provider-oci/src/main/java/oracle/jdbc/provider/oci/resource/OciResourceProvider.java
@@ -80,6 +80,17 @@ public abstract class OciResourceProvider
       new ResourceParameter(
         "username",
         AuthenticationDetailsFactory.USERNAME),
+      new ResourceParameter("instancePrincipalTimeout",
+        AuthenticationDetailsFactory.INSTANCE_PRINCIPAL_TIMEOUT,
+        "5",
+          s -> {
+            try {
+              return Integer.parseInt(s);
+            } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+              throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid value for instancePrincipalTimeout: " + s +
+                " – must be an integer.");
+            }
+        }),
       new ResourceParameter(
         "region",
         AuthenticationDetailsFactory.REGION,