diff --git a/devstack-vm-gate.sh b/devstack-vm-gate.sh
index c971db7b..40238d4a 100755
--- a/devstack-vm-gate.sh
+++ b/devstack-vm-gate.sh
@@ -147,6 +147,11 @@ EOF
         # not cleaning up correctly, and this is a temp measure
         # to prevent it from blocking unrelated changes
         echo "VOLUME_BACKING_FILE_SIZE=10G" >> localrc
+
+        # in order to ensure glance http tests don't time out, we
+        # specify the TEMPEST_HTTP_IMAGE address to be horrizon's
+        # front page. Kind of hacky, but it works.
+        echo "TEMPEST_HTTP_IMAGE=http://127.0.0.1/" >> localrc
     fi
 
     if [ "$DEVSTACK_GATE_GRENADE" -eq "1" ]; then