diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index f1d41aea49..d69dc92082 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -6985,6 +6985,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "solana-vote-program",
  "spl-token-2022",
  "symlink",
+ "thiserror",
  "tikv-jemallocator",
 ]
 
diff --git a/programs/sbf/Cargo.lock b/programs/sbf/Cargo.lock
index ced6b20375..c9cbef28f7 100644
--- a/programs/sbf/Cargo.lock
+++ b/programs/sbf/Cargo.lock
@@ -6191,6 +6191,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "solana-version",
  "solana-vote-program",
  "symlink",
+ "thiserror",
  "tikv-jemallocator",
 ]
 
diff --git a/validator/Cargo.toml b/validator/Cargo.toml
index 44c836e3bd..0cf6cf13dd 100644
--- a/validator/Cargo.toml
+++ b/validator/Cargo.toml
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ solana-tpu-client = { path = "../tpu-client", version = "=1.16.0", default-featu
 solana-version = { path = "../version", version = "=1.16.0" }
 solana-vote-program = { path = "../programs/vote", version = "=1.16.0" }
 symlink = "0.1.0"
+thiserror = "1.0"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 solana-account-decoder = { path = "../account-decoder", version = "=1.16.0" }
diff --git a/validator/src/bootstrap.rs b/validator/src/bootstrap.rs
index d5ef543760..e0bb70826c 100644
--- a/validator/src/bootstrap.rs
+++ b/validator/src/bootstrap.rs
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ use {
         },
         time::{Duration, Instant},
     },
+    thiserror::Error,
 };
 
 /// When downloading snapshots, wait at most this long for snapshot hashes from
@@ -48,6 +49,8 @@ const BLACKLIST_CLEAR_THRESHOLD: Duration = Duration::from_secs(60);
 /// If we can't find a good snapshot download candidate after this time, just
 /// give up.
 const NEWER_SNAPSHOT_THRESHOLD: Duration = Duration::from_secs(180);
+/// If we haven't found any RPC peers after this time, just give up.
+const GET_RPC_PEERS_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(300);
 
 pub const MAX_RPC_CONNECTIONS_EVALUATED_PER_ITERATION: usize = 32;
 
@@ -316,6 +319,15 @@ fn check_vote_account(
     Ok(())
 }
 
+#[derive(Error, Debug)]
+pub enum GetRpcNodeError {
+    #[error("Unable to find any RPC peers")]
+    NoRpcPeersFound,
+
+    #[error("Giving up, did not get newer snapshots from the cluster")]
+    NoNewerSnapshots,
+}
+
 /// Struct to wrap the return value from get_rpc_nodes().  The `rpc_contact_info` is the peer to
 /// download from, and `snapshot_hash` is the (optional) full and (optional) incremental
 /// snapshots to download.
@@ -526,18 +538,25 @@ pub fn rpc_bootstrap(
         }
 
         while vetted_rpc_nodes.is_empty() {
-            let rpc_node_details_vec = get_rpc_nodes(
+            let rpc_node_details = match get_rpc_nodes(
                 &gossip.as_ref().unwrap().0,
                 cluster_entrypoints,
                 validator_config,
                 &mut blacklisted_rpc_nodes.write().unwrap(),
                 &bootstrap_config,
-            );
-            if rpc_node_details_vec.is_empty() {
-                return;
-            }
+            ) {
+                Ok(rpc_node_details) => rpc_node_details,
+                Err(err) => {
+                    error!(
+                        "Failed to get RPC nodes: {err}. Consider checking system \
+                        clock, removing `--no-port-check`, or adjusting \
+                        `--known-validator ...` arguments as applicable"
+                    );
+                    exit(1);
+                }
+            };
 
-            vetted_rpc_nodes = rpc_node_details_vec
+            vetted_rpc_nodes = rpc_node_details
                 .into_par_iter()
                 .map(|rpc_node_details| {
                     let GetRpcNodeResult {
@@ -626,8 +645,9 @@ fn get_rpc_nodes(
     validator_config: &ValidatorConfig,
     blacklisted_rpc_nodes: &mut HashSet<Pubkey>,
     bootstrap_config: &RpcBootstrapConfig,
-) -> Vec<GetRpcNodeResult> {
+) -> Result<Vec<GetRpcNodeResult>, GetRpcNodeError> {
     let mut blacklist_timeout = Instant::now();
+    let mut get_rpc_peers_timout = Instant::now();
     let mut newer_cluster_snapshot_timeout = None;
     let mut retry_reason = None;
     loop {
@@ -645,16 +665,21 @@ fn get_rpc_nodes(
             bootstrap_config,
         );
         if rpc_peers.is_empty() {
+            if get_rpc_peers_timout.elapsed() > GET_RPC_PEERS_TIMEOUT {
+                return Err(GetRpcNodeError::NoRpcPeersFound);
+            }
             continue;
         }
 
+        // Reset timeouts if we found any viable RPC peers.
         blacklist_timeout = Instant::now();
+        get_rpc_peers_timout = Instant::now();
         if bootstrap_config.no_snapshot_fetch {
             let random_peer = &rpc_peers[thread_rng().gen_range(0, rpc_peers.len())];
-            return vec![GetRpcNodeResult {
+            return Ok(vec![GetRpcNodeResult {
                 rpc_contact_info: random_peer.clone(),
                 snapshot_hash: None,
-            }];
+            }]);
         }
 
         let known_validators_to_wait_for = if newer_cluster_snapshot_timeout
@@ -678,8 +703,7 @@ fn get_rpc_nodes(
                 None => newer_cluster_snapshot_timeout = Some(Instant::now()),
                 Some(newer_cluster_snapshot_timeout) => {
                     if newer_cluster_snapshot_timeout.elapsed() > NEWER_SNAPSHOT_THRESHOLD {
-                        warn!("Giving up, did not get newer snapshots from the cluster.");
-                        return vec![];
+                        return Err(GetRpcNodeError::NoNewerSnapshots);
                     }
                 }
             }
@@ -709,7 +733,7 @@ fn get_rpc_nodes(
                 })
                 .take(MAX_RPC_CONNECTIONS_EVALUATED_PER_ITERATION)
                 .collect();
-            return rpc_node_results;
+            return Ok(rpc_node_results);
         }
     }
 }