diff --git a/google/auth/compute_engine/_metadata.py b/google/auth/compute_engine/_metadata.py
index e59736585..d3ca4c8d7 100644
--- a/google/auth/compute_engine/_metadata.py
+++ b/google/auth/compute_engine/_metadata.py
@@ -53,11 +53,7 @@
 
 # Timeout in seconds to wait for the GCE metadata server when detecting the
 # GCE environment.
-try:
-    _METADATA_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = int(os.getenv("GCE_METADATA_TIMEOUT", 3))
-except ValueError:  # pragma: NO COVER
-    _METADATA_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 3
-
+_METADATA_PING_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 3
 # Detect GCE Residency
 _GOOGLE = "Google"
 _GCE_PRODUCT_NAME_FILE = "/sys/class/dmi/id/product_name"
@@ -100,7 +96,7 @@ def detect_gce_residency_linux():
     return content.startswith(_GOOGLE)
 
 
-def ping(request, timeout=_METADATA_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT, retry_count=3):
+def ping(request, timeout=None, retry_count=3):
     """Checks to see if the metadata server is available.
 
     Args:
@@ -119,6 +115,14 @@ def ping(request, timeout=_METADATA_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT, retry_count=3):
     #       could lead to false negatives in the event that we are on GCE, but
     #       the metadata resolution was particularly slow. The latter case is
     #       "unlikely".
+    if timeout is None:
+        try:
+            timeout = float(os.getenv(
+                environment_vars.GCE_METADATA_TIMEOUT,
+                str(_METADATA_PING_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT)))
+        except ValueError:
+            timeout = _METADATA_PING_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
+
     retries = 0
     headers = _METADATA_HEADERS.copy()
     headers[metrics.API_CLIENT_HEADER] = metrics.mds_ping()
diff --git a/google/auth/environment_vars.py b/google/auth/environment_vars.py
index 81f31571e..93cc8838a 100644
--- a/google/auth/environment_vars.py
+++ b/google/auth/environment_vars.py
@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@
 Used to distinguish between GAE gen1 and GAE gen2+.
 """
 
+GCE_METADATA_TIMEOUT = "GCE_METADATA_TIMEOUT"
+"""Environment variable for setting timeouts in seconds for metadata queries."""
+
 # AWS environment variables used with AWS workload identity pools to retrieve
 # AWS security credentials and the AWS region needed to create a serialized
 # signed requests to the AWS STS GetCalledIdentity API that can be exchanged
diff --git a/tests/compute_engine/test__metadata.py b/tests/compute_engine/test__metadata.py
index 60ae355ac..846e968b9 100644
--- a/tests/compute_engine/test__metadata.py
+++ b/tests/compute_engine/test__metadata.py
@@ -105,8 +105,45 @@ def test_ping_success(mock_metrics_header_value):
     request.assert_called_once_with(
         method="GET",
         url=_metadata._METADATA_IP_ROOT,
-        headers=MDS_PING_REQUEST_HEADER,
-        timeout=_metadata._METADATA_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
+        headers=_metadata._METADATA_HEADER,
+        timeout=_metadata._METADATA_PING_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
+    )
+
+@mock.patch("google.auth.metrics.mds_ping", return_value=MDS_PING_METRICS_HEADER_VALUE)
+def test_ping_success_with_gce_metadata_timeout(mock_metrics_header_value):
+    request = make_request("", headers=_metadata._METADATA_HEADERS)
+    gce_metadata_timeout = .5
+    os.environ[
+        environment_vars.GCE_METADATA_TIMEOUT] = str(gce_metadata_timeout)
+
+    try:
+        assert _metadata.ping(request)
+    finally:
+        del os.environ[environment_vars.GCE_METADATA_TIMEOUT]
+
+    request.assert_called_once_with(
+        method="GET",
+        url=_metadata._METADATA_IP_ROOT,
+        headers=_metadata._METADATA_HEADER,
+        timeout=gce_metadata_timeout,
+    )
+
+@mock.patch("google.auth.metrics.mds_ping", return_value=MDS_PING_METRICS_HEADER_VALUE)
+def test_ping_success_with_invalid_gce_metadata_timeout(mock_metrics_header_value):
+    request = make_request("", headers=_metadata._METADATA_HEADERS)
+    os.environ[
+        environment_vars.GCE_METADATA_TIMEOUT] = "Not a valid float value!"
+
+    try:
+        assert _metadata.ping(request)
+    finally:
+        del os.environ[environment_vars.GCE_METADATA_TIMEOUT]
+
+    request.assert_called_once_with(
+        method="GET",
+        url=_metadata._METADATA_IP_ROOT,
+        headers=_metadata._METADATA_HEADERS,
+        timeout=_metadata._METADATA_PING_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT, # Fallback value.
     )
 
 
@@ -156,7 +193,7 @@ def test_ping_success_custom_root(mock_metrics_header_value):
         method="GET",
         url="http://" + fake_ip,
         headers=MDS_PING_REQUEST_HEADER,
-        timeout=_metadata._METADATA_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
+        timeout=_metadata._METADATA_PING_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
     )