diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 132d07c..8b6d31f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ async function run () {
     // Ref: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#setwebhook
     webhookSecret: 'secret',
 
+    // [optional]: the polling mode requires an health check that slows down the startup
+    // you can customize the max milliseconds to wait for the health check to pass
+    waitForHealthPolling: 3_000, // default: app.initialConfig.pluginTimeout / 6
+
     // [optional] this function is called when an error is not handled
     // by default it logs the error using `fastify.log.error`
     // Ref: https://telegrafjs.org/index.html#/?id=error-handling
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 61f3305..227e546 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ const { Telegraf } = require('telegraf')
 async function fastifyTelegram (app, options) {
   const {
     decoratorBotName = 'telegramBot',
+    waitForHealthPolling = app.initialConfig.pluginTimeout / 6,
     baseUrl,
     webhookSecret,
     botToken,
@@ -63,7 +64,7 @@ async function fastifyTelegram (app, options) {
       // it triggers an error during startup if the config is invalid
       await Promise.race([
         bot.launch({ webhook: undefined }).catch(handleFatalError),
-        timeout(app.initialConfig.pluginTimeout / 2)
+        timeout(waitForHealthPolling)
       ])
 
       if (startError) {