diff --git a/manager/state/raft/raft.go b/manager/state/raft/raft.go
index afdf2ca4eb..28c7cfa47e 100644
--- a/manager/state/raft/raft.go
+++ b/manager/state/raft/raft.go
@@ -180,9 +180,12 @@ type NodeOptions struct {
 	ClockSource clock.Clock
 	// SendTimeout is the timeout on the sending messages to other raft
 	// nodes. Leave this as 0 to get the default value.
-	SendTimeout    time.Duration
-	TLSCredentials credentials.TransportCredentials
-	KeyRotator     EncryptionKeyRotator
+	SendTimeout time.Duration
+	// LargeSendTimeout is the timeout on the sending snapshots to other raft
+	// nodes. Leave this as 0 to get the default value.
+	LargeSendTimeout time.Duration
+	TLSCredentials   credentials.TransportCredentials
+	KeyRotator       EncryptionKeyRotator
 	// DisableStackDump prevents Run from dumping goroutine stacks when the
 	// store becomes stuck.
 	DisableStackDump bool
@@ -204,6 +207,11 @@ func NewNode(opts NodeOptions) *Node {
 	if opts.SendTimeout == 0 {
 		opts.SendTimeout = 2 * time.Second
 	}
+	if opts.LargeSendTimeout == 0 {
+		// a "slow" 100Mbps connection can send over 240MB data in 20 seconds
+		// which is well over the gRPC message limit of 128MB allowed by SwarmKit
+		opts.LargeSendTimeout = 20 * time.Second
+	}
 
 	raftStore := raft.NewMemoryStorage()
 
@@ -349,6 +357,7 @@ func (n *Node) initTransport() {
 	transportConfig := &transport.Config{
 		HeartbeatInterval: time.Duration(n.Config.ElectionTick) * n.opts.TickInterval,
 		SendTimeout:       n.opts.SendTimeout,
+		LargeSendTimeout:  n.opts.LargeSendTimeout,
 		Credentials:       n.opts.TLSCredentials,
 		Raft:              n,
 	}
diff --git a/manager/state/raft/transport/mock_raft_test.go b/manager/state/raft/transport/mock_raft_test.go
index 7e7256de6a..703570fb84 100644
--- a/manager/state/raft/transport/mock_raft_test.go
+++ b/manager/state/raft/transport/mock_raft_test.go
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ func newMockRaft() (*mockRaft, error) {
 	cfg := &Config{
 		HeartbeatInterval: 3 * time.Second,
 		SendTimeout:       2 * time.Second,
+		LargeSendTimeout:  20 * time.Second,
 		Raft:              mr,
 	}
 	tr := New(cfg)
diff --git a/manager/state/raft/transport/peer.go b/manager/state/raft/transport/peer.go
index 55639af13f..8c7ca75458 100644
--- a/manager/state/raft/transport/peer.go
+++ b/manager/state/raft/transport/peer.go
@@ -133,7 +133,14 @@ func (p *peer) resolveAddr(ctx context.Context, id uint64) (string, error) {
 }
 
 func (p *peer) sendProcessMessage(ctx context.Context, m raftpb.Message) error {
-	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, p.tr.config.SendTimeout)
+	timeout := p.tr.config.SendTimeout
+	// if a snapshot is being sent, set timeout to LargeSendTimeout because
+	// sending snapshots can take more time than other messages sent between peers.
+	// The same applies to AppendEntries as well, where messages can get large.
+	if m.Type == raftpb.MsgSnap || m.Type == raftpb.MsgApp {
+		timeout = p.tr.config.LargeSendTimeout
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, timeout)
 	defer cancel()
 	_, err := api.NewRaftClient(p.conn()).ProcessRaftMessage(ctx, &api.ProcessRaftMessageRequest{Message: &m})
 	if grpc.Code(err) == codes.NotFound && grpc.ErrorDesc(err) == membership.ErrMemberRemoved.Error() {
diff --git a/manager/state/raft/transport/transport.go b/manager/state/raft/transport/transport.go
index b259013d8a..bd5a04eec7 100644
--- a/manager/state/raft/transport/transport.go
+++ b/manager/state/raft/transport/transport.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ type Raft interface {
 type Config struct {
 	HeartbeatInterval time.Duration
 	SendTimeout       time.Duration
+	LargeSendTimeout  time.Duration
 	Credentials       credentials.TransportCredentials
 	RaftID            string