diff --git a/packages/components/src/modelLoader.test.ts b/packages/components/src/modelLoader.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ed54d15a20a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/components/src/modelLoader.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import axios from 'axios'
+import { getModelConfigByModelName, MODEL_TYPE } from './modelLoader'
+
+jest.mock('axios')
+
+const mockedAxios = axios as jest.Mocked<typeof axios>
+
+describe('modelLoader', () => {
+    const originalModelListConfigJson = process.env.MODEL_LIST_CONFIG_JSON
+
+    afterEach(() => {
+        jest.resetAllMocks()
+        if (originalModelListConfigJson === undefined) {
+            delete process.env.MODEL_LIST_CONFIG_JSON
+        } else {
+            process.env.MODEL_LIST_CONFIG_JSON = originalModelListConfigJson
+        }
+        delete process.env.MODEL_LIST_FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS
+    })
+
+    it('uses a bounded timeout when loading remote model config before falling back locally', async () => {
+        process.env.MODEL_LIST_CONFIG_JSON = 'https://example.com/models.json'
+        mockedAxios.get.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('timeout'))
+
+        const modelConfig = await getModelConfigByModelName(MODEL_TYPE.CHAT, 'awsChatBedrock', 'ai21.jamba-1-5-large-v1:0')
+
+        expect(mockedAxios.get).toHaveBeenCalledWith('https://example.com/models.json', { timeout: 5000 })
+        expect(modelConfig?.name).toBe('ai21.jamba-1-5-large-v1:0')
+    })
+
+    it('allows configuring the remote model list timeout', async () => {
+        process.env.MODEL_LIST_CONFIG_JSON = 'https://example.com/custom-timeout-models.json'
+        process.env.MODEL_LIST_FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS = '1500'
+        mockedAxios.get.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error('timeout'))
+
+        await getModelConfigByModelName(MODEL_TYPE.CHAT, 'awsChatBedrock', 'ai21.jamba-1-5-large-v1:0')
+
+        expect(mockedAxios.get).toHaveBeenCalledWith('https://example.com/custom-timeout-models.json', { timeout: 1500 })
+    })
+
+    it('caches model config after the first load', async () => {
+        process.env.MODEL_LIST_CONFIG_JSON = 'https://example.com/cached-models.json'
+        mockedAxios.get.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+            status: 200,
+            data: {
+                [MODEL_TYPE.CHAT]: [
+                    {
+                        name: 'Test Provider',
+                        models: [{ name: 'test-model' }]
+                    }
+                ]
+            }
+        })
+
+        await getModelConfigByModelName(MODEL_TYPE.CHAT, 'Test Provider', 'test-model')
+        await getModelConfigByModelName(MODEL_TYPE.CHAT, 'Test Provider', 'test-model')
+
+        expect(mockedAxios.get).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    })
+})
diff --git a/packages/components/src/modelLoader.ts b/packages/components/src/modelLoader.ts
index dc728634b74..b4144078c0f 100644
--- a/packages/components/src/modelLoader.ts
+++ b/packages/components/src/modelLoader.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ import * as fs from 'fs'
 import * as path from 'path'
 import { INodeOptionsValue } from './Interface'
 
+const DEFAULT_MODEL_LIST_FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS = 5000
+let rawModelFileCache: { modelFile: string; data: any } | undefined
+
 export enum MODEL_TYPE {
     CHAT = 'chat',
     LLM = 'llm',
@@ -29,6 +32,11 @@ const isValidUrl = (urlString: string) => {
     return url.protocol === 'http:' || url.protocol === 'https:'
 }
 
+const getModelListFetchTimeoutMs = () => {
+    const timeout = Number(process.env.MODEL_LIST_FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS)
+    return Number.isFinite(timeout) && timeout > 0 ? timeout : DEFAULT_MODEL_LIST_FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS
+}
+
 /**
  * Load the raw model file from either a URL or a local file
  * If any of the loading fails, fallback to the default models.json file on disk
@@ -36,28 +44,38 @@ const isValidUrl = (urlString: string) => {
 const getRawModelFile = async () => {
     const modelFile =
         process.env.MODEL_LIST_CONFIG_JSON ?? 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FlowiseAI/Flowise/main/packages/components/models.json'
+    if (rawModelFileCache?.modelFile === modelFile) {
+        return rawModelFileCache.data
+    }
+
+    let rawModelFile
     try {
         if (isValidUrl(modelFile)) {
-            const resp = await axios.get(modelFile)
+            const resp = await axios.get(modelFile, { timeout: getModelListFetchTimeoutMs() })
             if (resp.status === 200 && resp.data) {
-                return resp.data
+                rawModelFile = resp.data
             } else {
                 throw new Error('Error fetching model list')
             }
         } else if (fs.existsSync(modelFile)) {
             const models = await fs.promises.readFile(modelFile, 'utf8')
             if (models) {
-                return JSON.parse(models)
+                rawModelFile = JSON.parse(models)
             }
         }
-        throw new Error('Model file does not exist or is empty')
+        if (!rawModelFile) {
+            throw new Error('Model file does not exist or is empty')
+        }
     } catch (e) {
         const models = await fs.promises.readFile(getModelsJSONPath(), 'utf8')
         if (models) {
-            return JSON.parse(models)
+            rawModelFile = JSON.parse(models)
+        } else {
+            rawModelFile = {}
         }
-        return {}
     }
+    rawModelFileCache = { modelFile, data: rawModelFile }
+    return rawModelFile
 }
 
 const getModelConfig = async (category: MODEL_TYPE, name: string) => {