diff --git a/scripts/tests/test_portal_onboarding_flow.py b/scripts/tests/test_portal_onboarding_flow.py
index c75ec56..9c5124a 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/test_portal_onboarding_flow.py
+++ b/scripts/tests/test_portal_onboarding_flow.py
@@ -337,8 +337,26 @@ def main() -> int:
         raise SystemExit(f"failed to exchange token for portal approval as {portal_admin_username!r}: {exc}")
 
     approve_url = f"{portal_base}/api/admin/access/requests/{urllib.parse.quote(username, safe='')}/approve"
-    approve_resp = _request_json("POST", approve_url, portal_bearer, payload=None, timeout_s=60)
-    if not isinstance(approve_resp, dict) or approve_resp.get("ok") is not True:
+    approve_timeout_s = int(os.environ.get("E2E_APPROVE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS", "180"))
+    approve_attempts = int(os.environ.get("E2E_APPROVE_ATTEMPTS", "3"))
+    approve_resp = None
+    approve_error = None
+    for attempt in range(1, approve_attempts + 1):
+        try:
+            approve_resp = _request_json("POST", approve_url, portal_bearer, payload=None, timeout_s=approve_timeout_s)
+            approve_error = None
+            break
+        except (http.client.RemoteDisconnected, TimeoutError, urllib.error.URLError) as exc:
+            approve_error = str(exc)
+            if attempt == approve_attempts:
+                break
+            time.sleep(3)
+    if approve_resp is None:
+        print(
+            "WARNING: portal approval request did not return a response; "
+            f"continuing to poll status (last_error={approve_error})"
+        )
+    elif not isinstance(approve_resp, dict) or approve_resp.get("ok") is not True:
         raise SystemExit(f"unexpected approval response: {approve_resp}")
 
     status_url = f"{portal_base}/api/access/request/status"