diff --git a/broker/ipc.go b/broker/ipc.go
index bde72b093f6ab8d8b157690ff6a0eb522f73e7b7..709974b64e9b2a03ab52f03759f379d13bf0a532 100644
--- a/broker/ipc.go
+++ b/broker/ipc.go
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	ClientTimeout = 10
+	ClientTimeout = 5 // this is calibrated to match the timeout of the CDNs we use for rendezvous
 	ProxyTimeout  = 10
 
 	NATUnknown      = "unknown"