diff --git a/pkg/helm/client.go b/pkg/helm/client.go
index 83c97f9a8..c7ef4d89e 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/client.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/client.go
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ import (
 	rls "k8s.io/helm/pkg/proto/hapi/services"
 )
 
+// maxMsgSize use 20MB as the default message size limit.
+// grpc library default is 4MB
+const maxMsgSize = 1024 * 1024 * 20
+
 // Client manages client side of the Helm-Tiller protocol.
 type Client struct {
 	opts options
@@ -303,13 +307,13 @@ func (h *Client) PingTiller() error {
 // are constructed here.
 func (h *Client) connect(ctx context.Context) (conn *grpc.ClientConn, err error) {
 	opts := []grpc.DialOption{
-		grpc.WithTimeout(5 * time.Second),
 		grpc.WithBlock(),
 		grpc.WithKeepaliveParams(keepalive.ClientParameters{
 			// Send keepalive every 30 seconds to prevent the connection from
 			// getting closed by upstreams
 			Time: time.Duration(30) * time.Second,
 		}),
+		grpc.WithDefaultCallOptions(grpc.MaxCallRecvMsgSize(maxMsgSize)),
 	}
 	switch {
 	case h.opts.useTLS:
@@ -317,7 +321,9 @@ func (h *Client) connect(ctx context.Context) (conn *grpc.ClientConn, err error)
 	default:
 		opts = append(opts, grpc.WithInsecure())
 	}
-	if conn, err = grpc.Dial(h.opts.host, opts...); err != nil {
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 5*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	if conn, err = grpc.DialContext(ctx, h.opts.host, opts...); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	return conn, nil
diff --git a/pkg/tiller/server.go b/pkg/tiller/server.go
index 95276018e..818cfd47a 100644
--- a/pkg/tiller/server.go
+++ b/pkg/tiller/server.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import (
 
 // maxMsgSize use 20MB as the default message size limit.
 // grpc library default is 4MB
-var maxMsgSize = 1024 * 1024 * 20
+const maxMsgSize = 1024 * 1024 * 20
 
 // DefaultServerOpts returns the set of default grpc ServerOption's that Tiller requires.
 func DefaultServerOpts() []grpc.ServerOption {