diff --git a/puppet-done-test.sh b/puppet-done-test.sh
index f1d8d3c..8512258 100755
--- a/puppet-done-test.sh
+++ b/puppet-done-test.sh
@@ -1,30 +1,58 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+# how long do we wait in the different stages?
+# 5 minutes is 300 seconds
+# 30 minutes is 1800 seconds
+MAX_STATE_WAIT=300
+MAX_LOCK_WAIT=1800
+MAX_FINISH_WAIT=1800
+
 look_for_state()
 {
+  WAIT=0
   while [[ ! -d /var/lib/puppet/state ]]
   do
-    echo "no /var/lib/puppet/state yet, checking again in 10 seconds"
+    echo "no /var/lib/puppet/state yet, waiting since ${WAIT} seconds, checking again in 10 seconds"
     sleep 10
+    ((WAIT+=10))
+    if [[ ${WAIT} -gt ${MAX_STATE_WAIT} ]]
+    then
+        echo "no /var/lib/puppet/state after ${MAX_STATE_WAIT} seconds. Exiting."
+        exit 1
+    fi
   done
 }
 
 look_for_daemon_lock()
 {
+  WAIT=0
   while [[ -e /var/lib/puppet/state/puppetdlock ]]
   do
-    echo "puppet daemon is holding a lock, waiting 10 secs"
+    echo "puppet daemon is holding a lock, waiting since ${WAIT} seconds, waiting 10 secs until next check"
     sleep 10
+    ((WAIT+=10))
+    if [[ ${WAIT} -gt ${MAX_LOCK_WAIT} ]]
+    then
+        echo "puppet daemon still holding lock after ${MAX_LOCK_WAIT} seconds. Exiting."
+        exit 1
+    fi
   done
   echo "puppet daemon not holding lock"
 }
 
 look_for_agent_lock()
 {
+  WAIT=0
   while [[ -e /var/lib/puppet/state/agent_catalog_run.lock ]]
   do
-    echo "puppet agent is holding a lock, waiting 10 secs"
+    echo "puppet agent is holding a lock, waiting since ${WAIT} seconds, waiting 10 secs until next check"
     sleep 10
+    ((WAIT+=10))
+    if [[ ${WAIT} -gt ${MAX_LOCK_WAIT} ]]
+    then
+        echo "puppet agent still holding lock after ${MAX_LOCK_WAIT} seconds. Exiting."
+        exit 1
+    fi
   done
   echo "puppet agent not holding lock"
 }
@@ -32,23 +60,24 @@ look_for_agent_lock()
 look_for_finished()
 {
   NOTFINISHED=1
+  WAIT=0
   while [[ ${NOTFINISHED} -ne 0 ]]
   do
-    echo "Checking if puppet is done"
+    echo "Checking if puppet is done, waiting since ${WAIT} seconds"
     grep 'Finished catalog run\|Failed to apply catalog' /var/lib/puppet/state/last_run_report.yaml
     NOTFINISHED=$?
     sleep 10
+    ((WAIT+=10))
+    if [[ ${WAIT} -gt ${MAX_FINISH_WAIT} ]]
+    then
+        echo "puppet not done after ${MAX_FINISH_WAIT} seconds. Exiting."
+        exit 1
+    fi
   done
 }
 
 date
 
-# Let's not wait for puppet on a host that is actually using Ansible
-if ! rpm -q puppet ; then
-  echo "puppet is not installed"
-  exit 0
-fi
-
 # waiting just over one minute for puppet to start
 # this script gets run on first boot after a system was installed
 echo "waiting 75 seconds (one minute and a bit) before checking on puppet"
@@ -68,4 +97,3 @@ look_for_finished
 
 date
 echo "puppet seems done"
-