diff --git a/devstack/plugin.sh b/devstack/plugin.sh
index ee5faffd29..c76982c886 100644
--- a/devstack/plugin.sh
+++ b/devstack/plugin.sh
@@ -87,6 +87,12 @@ function octavia_configure {
     iniuncomment $OCTAVIA_CONF haproxy_amphora connection_max_retries
     iniuncomment $OCTAVIA_CONF haproxy_amphora connection_retry_interval
 
+    # devstack optimizations for tempest runs
+    iniset $OCTAVIA_CONF haproxy_amphora connection_max_retries 1500
+    iniset $OCTAVIA_CONF haproxy_amphora connection_retry_interval 1
+    iniset $OCTAVIA_CONF controller_worker amp_active_retries 100
+    iniset $OCTAVIA_CONF controller_worker amp_active_wait_sec 1
+
     if [[ -a $OCTAVIA_SSH_DIR ]] ; then
         rm -rf $OCTAVIA_SSH_DIR
     fi
diff --git a/diskimage-create/diskimage-create.sh b/diskimage-create/diskimage-create.sh
index 0af2f3a4d5..082dcffa58 100755
--- a/diskimage-create/diskimage-create.sh
+++ b/diskimage-create/diskimage-create.sh
@@ -327,6 +327,9 @@ if [ "$AMP_ROOTPW" ]; then
     export DIB_PASSWORD=$AMP_ROOTPW
 fi
 
+# Add the devstack no-resolvconf hack
+AMP_element_sequence="$AMP_element_sequence no-resolvconf"
+
 # Add the Octavia Amphora agent.py element
 AMP_element_sequence="$AMP_element_sequence amphora-agent"
 
diff --git a/elements/no-resolvconf/README.rst b/elements/no-resolvconf/README.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..04f91c8821
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/no-resolvconf/README.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+This element clears out /etc/resolv.conf and prevents dhclient from populating
+it with data from DHCP. This means that DNS resolution will not work from the
+amphora. This is OK because all outbound connections from the amphora will
+be based using raw IP addresses.
+
+This has the real benefit of speeding up host boot and configutation times.
+This is especially helpful when running tempest tests in a devstack environment
+where DNS resolution from the amphora usually doesn't work anyway: This means
+that the amphora never waits for DNS timeouts to occur.
diff --git a/elements/no-resolvconf/finalise.d/99-disable-resolv-conf b/elements/no-resolvconf/finalise.d/99-disable-resolv-conf
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..2675b8ecf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elements/no-resolvconf/finalise.d/99-disable-resolv-conf
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+echo "" > /etc/resolv.conf
+echo "" > /etc/resolv.conf.ORIG
+echo "#!/bin/sh
+make_resolv_conf() { : ; }" > /etc/dhcp/dhclient-enter-hooks.d/noresolvconf
+chmod +x /etc/dhcp/dhclient-enter-hooks.d/noresolvconf
+rm -f /etc/dhcp/dhclient-enter-hooks.d/resolvconf
diff --git a/octavia/common/config.py b/octavia/common/config.py
index 8197128b2d..9b68ecfa96 100644
--- a/octavia/common/config.py
+++ b/octavia/common/config.py
@@ -177,7 +177,8 @@ haproxy_amphora_opts = [
                help=_('Retry threshold for connecting to amphorae.')),
     cfg.IntOpt('connection_retry_interval',
                default=5,
-               help=_('Retry timeout between attempts in seconds.')),
+               help=_('Retry timeout between connection attempts in '
+                      'seconds.')),
     cfg.StrOpt('haproxy_stick_size', default='10k',
                help=_('Size of the HAProxy stick table. Accepts k, m, g '
                       'suffixes.  Example: 10k')),
@@ -210,7 +211,8 @@ controller_worker_opts = [
                help=_('Retry attempts to wait for Amphora to become active')),
     cfg.IntOpt('amp_active_wait_sec',
                default=10,
-               help=_('Seconds to wait for an Amphora to become active')),
+               help=_('Seconds to wait between checks on whether an Amphora '
+                      'has become active')),
     cfg.StrOpt('amp_flavor_id',
                default='',
                help=_('Nova instance flavor id for the Amphora')),