diff --git a/cmd/dist/common.go b/cmd/dist/common.go
index c4317c9..0411fa0 100644
--- a/cmd/dist/common.go
+++ b/cmd/dist/common.go
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@ func resolveContentStore(context *cli.Context) (*content.Store, error) {
 
 func connectGRPC(context *cli.Context) (*grpc.ClientConn, error) {
 	socket := context.GlobalString("socket")
+	timeout := context.GlobalDuration("connect-timeout")
 	return grpc.Dial(socket,
+		grpc.WithTimeout(timeout),
 		grpc.WithBlock(),
 		grpc.WithInsecure(),
 		grpc.WithDialer(func(addr string, timeout time.Duration) (net.Conn, error) {
diff --git a/cmd/dist/fetch.go b/cmd/dist/fetch.go
index 1bb5570..506c34d 100644
--- a/cmd/dist/fetch.go
+++ b/cmd/dist/fetch.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ var fetchCommand = cli.Command{
 	},
 	Action: func(context *cli.Context) error {
 		var (
-			ctx     = contextpkg.Background()
+			ctx     = background
 			timeout = context.Duration("timeout")
 			locator = context.Args().First()
 			args    = context.Args().Tail()
diff --git a/cmd/dist/main.go b/cmd/dist/main.go
index c5473ca..580be0e 100644
--- a/cmd/dist/main.go
+++ b/cmd/dist/main.go
@@ -40,9 +40,12 @@ distribution tool
 			Usage: "enable debug output in logs",
 		},
 		cli.DurationFlag{
-			Name:   "timeout",
-			Usage:  "total timeout for fetch",
-			EnvVar: "CONTAINERD_FETCH_TIMEOUT",
+			Name:  "timeout",
+			Usage: "total timeout for dist commands",
+		},
+		cli.DurationFlag{
+			Name:  "connect-timeout",
+			Usage: "timeout for connecting to containerd",
 		},
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			// TODO(stevvooe): for now, we allow circumventing the GRPC. Once