diff --git a/frigate/config.py b/frigate/config.py
index b71ba1907..2f07e7189 100644
--- a/frigate/config.py
+++ b/frigate/config.py
@@ -463,6 +463,9 @@ class FfmpegConfig(FrigateBaseModel):
         default_factory=FfmpegOutputArgsConfig,
         title="FFmpeg output arguments per role.",
     )
+    timeout: float = Field(
+        default=10.0, title="Time in seconds in-between ffmpeg health checks."
+    )
 
 
 class CameraRoleEnum(str, Enum):
diff --git a/frigate/video.py b/frigate/video.py
index c02ad15c4..09c80344b 100755
--- a/frigate/video.py
+++ b/frigate/video.py
@@ -251,8 +251,9 @@ class CameraWatchdog(threading.Thread):
                 }
             )
 
-        time.sleep(10)
-        while not self.stop_event.wait(10):
+        sleeptime = self.config.ffmpeg.timeout
+        time.sleep(sleeptime)
+        while not self.stop_event.wait(sleeptime):
             now = datetime.datetime.now().timestamp()
 
             if not self.capture_thread.is_alive():