diff --git a/oak-upgrade/src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/container/MongoNodeStoreContainer.java b/oak-upgrade/src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/container/MongoNodeStoreContainer.java
index 6c78271..125c920 100644
--- a/oak-upgrade/src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/container/MongoNodeStoreContainer.java
+++ b/oak-upgrade/src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/container/MongoNodeStoreContainer.java
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ import com.mongodb.MongoClientURI;
 
 public class MongoNodeStoreContainer implements NodeStoreContainer {
 
+    private static Boolean mongoAvailable;
+
     private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(MongoNodeStoreContainer.class);
 
     private static final String MONGO_URI = System.getProperty("oak.mongo.uri",
@@ -60,14 +62,18 @@ public class MongoNodeStoreContainer implements NodeStoreContainer {
     }
 
     public static boolean isMongoAvailable() {
+        if (mongoAvailable != null) {
+            return mongoAvailable;
+        }
+
         Mongo mongo = null;
         try {
-            MongoClientURI uri = new MongoClientURI(MONGO_URI);
+            MongoClientURI uri = new MongoClientURI(MONGO_URI + "?connectTimeoutMS=3000");
             mongo = new MongoClient(uri);
             mongo.getDatabaseNames();
-            return true;
+            return mongoAvailable = true;
         } catch (Exception e) {
-            return false;
+            return mongoAvailable = false;
         } finally {
             if (mongo != null) {
                 mongo.close();