diff --git a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go
index 585c9e83cc..4b46974fbc 100644
--- a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go
+++ b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ const (
 	enclaveManagerUIPort                        = 9711
 	enclaveManagerAPIPort                       = 8081
 	engineDebugServerPort                       = 50102 // in ClI this is 50101 and 50103 for the APIC
-	maxWaitForEngineAvailabilityRetries         = 10
-	timeBetweenWaitForEngineAvailabilityRetries = 1 * time.Second
+	maxWaitForEngineAvailabilityRetries         = 40
+	timeBetweenWaitForEngineAvailabilityRetries = 2 * time.Second
 	logsStorageDirPath                          = "/var/log/kurtosis/"
 )
 
diff --git a/engine/server/engine/main.go b/engine/server/engine/main.go
index 1f79948dab..262d38768f 100644
--- a/engine/server/engine/main.go
+++ b/engine/server/engine/main.go
@@ -261,6 +261,12 @@ func runMain() error {
 		}
 	}()
 
+	if serverArgs.RestartAPIContainers {
+		if err := enclaveManager.RestartAllEnclaveAPIContainers(ctx); err != nil {
+			return stacktrace.Propagate(err, "An error occurred restarting all API containers.")
+		}
+	}
+
 	go func() {
 		err := restApiServer(
 			ctx,
@@ -292,12 +298,6 @@ func runMain() error {
 		}
 	}()
 
-	if serverArgs.RestartAPIContainers {
-		if err := enclaveManager.RestartAllEnclaveAPIContainers(ctx); err != nil {
-			return stacktrace.Propagate(err, "An error occurred restarting all API containers.")
-		}
-	}
-
 	engineHttpServer := connect_server.NewConnectServer(serverArgs.GrpcListenPortNum, grpcServerStopGracePeriod, handler, apiPath)
 	if err := engineHttpServer.RunServerUntilInterruptedWithCors(cors.AllowAll()); err != nil {
 		return stacktrace.Propagate(err, "An error occurred running the server.")