diff --git a/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/ObjectExplorer/ObjectExplorerService.cs b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/ObjectExplorer/ObjectExplorerService.cs
index 7e631b8b..62b7e0ba 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/ObjectExplorer/ObjectExplorerService.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/ObjectExplorer/ObjectExplorerService.cs
@@ -275,7 +275,9 @@ namespace Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.ObjectExplorer
                 CreateSessionTask = task;
                 Task.Run(async () => 
                 {
-                    ObjectExplorerTaskResult result = await RunTaskWithTimeout(task, settings.CreateSessionTimeout);
+                    ObjectExplorerTaskResult result = await RunTaskWithTimeout(task, 
+                        settings?.CreateSessionTimeout ?? ObjectExplorerSettings.DefaultCreateSessionTimeout);
+
                     if (result != null && !result.IsComplete)
                     {
                         cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
@@ -419,7 +421,9 @@ namespace Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.ObjectExplorer
             ExpandTask = task;
             Task.Run(async () =>
             {
-                ObjectExplorerTaskResult result =  await RunTaskWithTimeout(task, settings.ExpandTimeout);
+                ObjectExplorerTaskResult result =  await RunTaskWithTimeout(task, 
+                    settings?.ExpandTimeout ?? ObjectExplorerSettings.DefaultExpandTimeout);
+
                 if (result != null && !result.IsComplete)
                 {
                     cancellationTokenSource.Cancel();
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/SqlContext/ObjectExplorerSettings.cs b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/SqlContext/ObjectExplorerSettings.cs
index bbec0641..b22aa49b 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/SqlContext/ObjectExplorerSettings.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer/SqlContext/ObjectExplorerSettings.cs
@@ -10,10 +10,13 @@ namespace Microsoft.SqlTools.ServiceLayer.SqlContext
     /// </summary>
     public class ObjectExplorerSettings
     {
+        public static int DefaultCreateSessionTimeout = 10;
+        public static int DefaultExpandTimeout = 10;
+
         public ObjectExplorerSettings()
         {
-            CreateSessionTimeout = 10;
-            ExpandTimeout = 10;
+            CreateSessionTimeout = DefaultCreateSessionTimeout;
+            ExpandTimeout = DefaultExpandTimeout;
         }
 
         /// <summary>