diff --git a/orcid-api-common/src/main/resources/orcid-oauth2-api-common-config.xml b/orcid-api-common/src/main/resources/orcid-oauth2-api-common-config.xml
index a97fca78480..89682ff1873 100644
--- a/orcid-api-common/src/main/resources/orcid-oauth2-api-common-config.xml
+++ b/orcid-api-common/src/main/resources/orcid-oauth2-api-common-config.xml
@@ -131,5 +131,6 @@
 		<constructor-arg index="1" value="${org.orcid.core.utils.cache.redis.port}" />
 		<constructor-arg index="2" value="${org.orcid.core.utils.cache.redis.password}" />
 		<constructor-arg index="3" value="${org.orcid.core.utils.cache.redis.expiration_in_secs:600}" />
+		<constructor-arg index="4" value="${org.orcid.core.utils.cache.redis.connection_timeout_millis:10000}" />
 	</bean>
 </beans>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/orcid-core/src/main/java/org/orcid/core/utils/cache/redis/RedisClient.java b/orcid-core/src/main/java/org/orcid/core/utils/cache/redis/RedisClient.java
index 42affcf8f47..bc09b7f234d 100644
--- a/orcid-core/src/main/java/org/orcid/core/utils/cache/redis/RedisClient.java
+++ b/orcid-core/src/main/java/org/orcid/core/utils/cache/redis/RedisClient.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 import org.orcid.utils.alerting.SlackManager;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;
 
 import redis.clients.jedis.DefaultJedisClientConfig;
 import redis.clients.jedis.HostAndPort;
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ public class RedisClient {
     private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(RedisClient.class);
     
     private static final int DEFAULT_CACHE_EXPIRY = 60;
-    private static final int DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 5000;
+    private static final int DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 10000;
     
     private final String redisHost;
     private final int redisPort;
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ public class RedisClient {
     @Resource
     private SlackManager slackManager;
     
-    // Assume the connection to Redis is disabled by default
+    // Assume the connection to Redis is disabled by default    
     private boolean enabled = false;
     
     public RedisClient(String redisHost, int redisPort, String password) {
@@ -66,10 +67,6 @@ public RedisClient(String redisHost, int redisPort, String password, int cacheEx
 
     @PostConstruct
     private void init() {
-        if(!enabled) {
-            LOG.debug("Redis is not enabled, so, it will not be initilized");
-            return;
-        }
         try {
             JedisClientConfig config = DefaultJedisClientConfig.builder().connectionTimeoutMillis(this.clientTimeoutInMillis).timeoutMillis(this.clientTimeoutInMillis)
                     .socketTimeoutMillis(this.clientTimeoutInMillis).password(this.redisPassword).ssl(true).build();        
diff --git a/orcid-core/src/main/resources/orcid-core-context.xml b/orcid-core/src/main/resources/orcid-core-context.xml
index 76f109dc3ca..94f24f912bd 100644
--- a/orcid-core/src/main/resources/orcid-core-context.xml
+++ b/orcid-core/src/main/resources/orcid-core-context.xml
@@ -1212,6 +1212,7 @@
 		<constructor-arg index="1" value="${org.orcid.core.utils.cache.redis.port}" />
 		<constructor-arg index="2" value="${org.orcid.core.utils.cache.redis.password}" />
 		<constructor-arg index="3" value="${org.orcid.core.utils.cache.redis.expiration_in_secs:600}" />
+		<constructor-arg index="4" value="${org.orcid.core.utils.cache.redis.connection_timeout_millis:10000}" />
 	</bean>
 
 	<bean id="emailDomainManager" class="org.orcid.core.common.manager.impl.EmailDomainManagerImpl"/>