diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CassandraRelevantProperties.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CassandraRelevantProperties.java
index 881b7d9fc5..7402aa1523 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CassandraRelevantProperties.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/CassandraRelevantProperties.java
@@ -136,6 +136,17 @@ public enum CassandraRelevantProperties
     /** mx4jport */
     MX4JPORT ("mx4jport"),
 
+    /**
+     * When bootstraping we wait for all schema versions found in gossip to be seen, and if not seen in time we fail
+     * the bootstrap; this property will avoid failing and allow bootstrap to continue if set to true.
+     */
+    BOOTSTRAP_SKIP_SCHEMA_CHECK("cassandra.skip_schema_check"),
+
+    /**
+     * When bootstraping how long to wait for schema versions to be seen.
+     */
+    BOOTSTRAP_SCHEMA_DELAY_MS("cassandra.schema_delay_ms"),
+
     //cassandra properties (without the "cassandra." prefix)
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
index 3201d80686..7d271637e3 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/service/StorageService.java
@@ -121,6 +121,8 @@ import static java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS;
 import static java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS;
 import static java.util.stream.Collectors.toList;
 import static java.util.stream.Collectors.toMap;
+import static org.apache.cassandra.config.CassandraRelevantProperties.BOOTSTRAP_SCHEMA_DELAY_MS;
+import static org.apache.cassandra.config.CassandraRelevantProperties.BOOTSTRAP_SKIP_SCHEMA_CHECK;
 import static org.apache.cassandra.index.SecondaryIndexManager.getIndexName;
 import static org.apache.cassandra.index.SecondaryIndexManager.isIndexColumnFamily;
 import static org.apache.cassandra.net.NoPayload.noPayload;
@@ -139,9 +141,9 @@ public class StorageService extends NotificationBroadcasterSupport implements IE
 
     public static final int INDEFINITE = -1;
     public static final int RING_DELAY = getRingDelay(); // delay after which we assume ring has stablized
-    public static final int SCHEMA_DELAY = getRingDelay(); // delay after which we assume ring has stablized
+    public static final int SCHEMA_DELAY_MILLIS = getSchemaDelay();
 
-    private static final boolean REQUIRE_SCHEMAS = !Boolean.getBoolean("cassandra.skip_schema_check");
+    private static final boolean REQUIRE_SCHEMAS = !BOOTSTRAP_SKIP_SCHEMA_CHECK.getBoolean();
 
     private final JMXProgressSupport progressSupport = new JMXProgressSupport(this);
 
@@ -161,10 +163,10 @@ public class StorageService extends NotificationBroadcasterSupport implements IE
 
     private static int getSchemaDelay()
     {
-        String newdelay = System.getProperty("cassandra.schema_delay_ms");
+        String newdelay = BOOTSTRAP_SCHEMA_DELAY_MS.getString();
         if (newdelay != null)
         {
-            logger.info("Overriding SCHEMA_DELAY to {}ms", newdelay);
+            logger.info("Overriding SCHEMA_DELAY_MILLIS to {}ms", newdelay);
             return Integer.parseInt(newdelay);
         }
         else
@@ -894,7 +896,7 @@ public class StorageService extends NotificationBroadcasterSupport implements IE
             Uninterruptibles.sleepUninterruptibly(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
         }
 
-        boolean schemasReceived = MigrationCoordinator.instance.awaitSchemaRequests(TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(SCHEMA_DELAY));
+        boolean schemasReceived = MigrationCoordinator.instance.awaitSchemaRequests(SCHEMA_DELAY_MILLIS);
 
         if (schemasReceived)
             return;
diff --git a/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/action/GossipHelper.java b/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/action/GossipHelper.java
index 6dda98e20b..229cb39270 100644
--- a/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/action/GossipHelper.java
+++ b/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/action/GossipHelper.java
@@ -443,11 +443,16 @@ public class GossipHelper
     }
 
     public static void withProperty(String prop, boolean value, Runnable r)
+    {
+        withProperty(prop, Boolean.toString(value), r);
+    }
+
+    public static void withProperty(String prop, String value, Runnable r)
     {
         String before = System.getProperty(prop);
         try
         {
-            System.setProperty(prop, Boolean.toString(value));
+            System.setProperty(prop, value);
             r.run();
         }
         finally
diff --git a/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/test/ring/BootstrapTest.java b/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/test/ring/BootstrapTest.java
index e0c5a78e0e..15a8d0091a 100644
--- a/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/test/ring/BootstrapTest.java
+++ b/test/distributed/org/apache/cassandra/distributed/test/ring/BootstrapTest.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import org.apache.cassandra.distributed.shared.NetworkTopology;
 import org.apache.cassandra.distributed.test.TestBaseImpl;
 
 import static java.util.Arrays.asList;
+import static org.apache.cassandra.config.CassandraRelevantProperties.BOOTSTRAP_SCHEMA_DELAY_MS;
 import static org.apache.cassandra.distributed.action.GossipHelper.bootstrap;
 import static org.apache.cassandra.distributed.action.GossipHelper.pullSchemaFrom;
 import static org.apache.cassandra.distributed.action.GossipHelper.statusToBootstrap;
@@ -93,8 +94,9 @@ public class BootstrapTest extends TestBaseImpl
             IInstanceConfig config = cluster.newInstanceConfig();
             config.set("auto_bootstrap", true);
             IInvokableInstance newInstance = cluster.bootstrap(config);
-            withProperty("cassandra.join_ring", false,
-                         () -> newInstance.startup(cluster));
+            withProperty(BOOTSTRAP_SCHEMA_DELAY_MS.getKey(), Integer.toString(90 * 1000),
+                         () -> withProperty("cassandra.join_ring", false,
+                                            () -> newInstance.startup(cluster)));
 
             newInstance.nodetoolResult("join").asserts().success();