diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/objectmeta_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/objectmeta_test.go
index 1ef3bd788a6..a5e0f2a6729 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/objectmeta_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/objectmeta_test.go
@@ -21,9 +21,11 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/clientv3"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/transport"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
 
 	apiextensionsv1 "k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1"
@@ -147,8 +149,12 @@ func TestInvalidObjectMetaInStorage(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	etcdConfig := clientv3.Config{
-		Endpoints: restOptions.StorageConfig.Transport.ServerList,
-		TLS:       tlsConfig,
+		Endpoints:   restOptions.StorageConfig.Transport.ServerList,
+		DialTimeout: 20 * time.Second,
+		DialOptions: []grpc.DialOption{
+			grpc.WithBlock(), // block until the underlying connection is up
+		},
+		TLS: tlsConfig,
 	}
 	etcdclient, err := clientv3.New(etcdConfig)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/pruning_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/pruning_test.go
index 5cfacd77758..a33e2b0a81a 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/pruning_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/pruning_test.go
@@ -21,9 +21,11 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/clientv3"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/transport"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
 
@@ -331,8 +333,12 @@ func TestPruningFromStorage(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	etcdConfig := clientv3.Config{
-		Endpoints: restOptions.StorageConfig.Transport.ServerList,
-		TLS:       tlsConfig,
+		Endpoints:   restOptions.StorageConfig.Transport.ServerList,
+		DialTimeout: 20 * time.Second,
+		DialOptions: []grpc.DialOption{
+			grpc.WithBlock(), // block until the underlying connection is up
+		},
+		TLS: tlsConfig,
 	}
 	etcdclient, err := clientv3.New(etcdConfig)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/storage/objectreader.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/storage/objectreader.go
index 6be1bb28b85..e8449c0d904 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/storage/objectreader.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/test/integration/storage/objectreader.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/clientv3"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/transport"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	apiextensionsv1 "k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apis/apiextensions/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/generic"
@@ -112,8 +113,12 @@ func GetEtcdClients(config storagebackend.TransportConfig) (*clientv3.Client, cl
 	}
 
 	cfg := clientv3.Config{
-		Endpoints: config.ServerList,
-		TLS:       tlsConfig,
+		Endpoints:   config.ServerList,
+		DialTimeout: 20 * time.Second,
+		DialOptions: []grpc.DialOption{
+			grpc.WithBlock(), // block until the underlying connection is up
+		},
+		TLS: tlsConfig,
 	}
 
 	c, err := clientv3.New(cfg)
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/storage/storagebackend/factory/etcd3.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/storage/storagebackend/factory/etcd3.go
index f2e7452f4d2..627e547d035 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/storage/storagebackend/factory/etcd3.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/storage/storagebackend/factory/etcd3.go
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ func newETCD3Client(c storagebackend.TransportConfig) (*clientv3.Client, error)
 		DialKeepAliveTime:    keepaliveTime,
 		DialKeepAliveTimeout: keepaliveTimeout,
 		DialOptions: []grpc.DialOption{
+			grpc.WithBlock(), // block until the underlying connection is up
 			grpc.WithUnaryInterceptor(grpcprom.UnaryClientInterceptor),
 			grpc.WithStreamInterceptor(grpcprom.StreamClientInterceptor),
 		},