diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr.cpp b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr.cpp
index ebe5f4f..3fa5212 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr.cpp
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 #include <memory>
+#include <thread>
 
 #include <android-base/file.h>
 #include <android-base/properties.h>
@@ -87,34 +88,22 @@
     FS_STAT_EXT4_INVALID_MAGIC = 0x0800,
 };
 
-/*
- * gettime() - returns the time in seconds of the system's monotonic clock or
- * zero on error.
- */
-static time_t gettime(void)
-{
-    struct timespec ts;
-    int ret;
+// TODO: switch to inotify()
+bool fs_mgr_wait_for_file(const std::string& filename,
+                          const std::chrono::milliseconds relative_timeout) {
+    auto start_time = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
 
-    ret = clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &ts);
-    if (ret < 0) {
-        PERROR << "clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC) failed";
-        return 0;
+    while (true) {
+        if (!access(filename.c_str(), F_OK) || errno != ENOENT) {
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        std::this_thread::sleep_for(50ms);
+
+        auto now = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
+        auto time_elapsed = std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(now - start_time);
+        if (time_elapsed > relative_timeout) return false;
     }
-
-    return ts.tv_sec;
-}
-
-static int wait_for_file(const char *filename, int timeout)
-{
-    struct stat info;
-    time_t timeout_time = gettime() + timeout;
-    int ret = -1;
-
-    while (gettime() < timeout_time && ((ret = stat(filename, &info)) < 0))
-        usleep(10000);
-
-    return ret;
 }
 
 static void log_fs_stat(const char* blk_device, int fs_stat)
@@ -767,19 +756,6 @@
     }
 }
 
-// TODO: add ueventd notifiers if they don't exist.
-// This is just doing a wait_for_device for maximum of 1s
-int fs_mgr_test_access(const char *device) {
-    int tries = 25;
-    while (tries--) {
-        if (!access(device, F_OK) || errno != ENOENT) {
-            return 0;
-        }
-        usleep(40 * 1000);
-    }
-    return -1;
-}
-
 bool is_device_secure() {
     int ret = -1;
     char value[PROP_VALUE_MAX];
@@ -850,8 +826,10 @@
             }
         }
 
-        if (fstab->recs[i].fs_mgr_flags & MF_WAIT) {
-            wait_for_file(fstab->recs[i].blk_device, WAIT_TIMEOUT);
+        if (fstab->recs[i].fs_mgr_flags & MF_WAIT &&
+            !fs_mgr_wait_for_file(fstab->recs[i].blk_device, 20s)) {
+            LERROR << "Skipping '" << fstab->recs[i].blk_device << "' during mount_all";
+            continue;
         }
 
         if (fstab->recs[i].fs_mgr_flags & MF_AVB) {
@@ -1058,8 +1036,9 @@
         }
 
         /* First check the filesystem if requested */
-        if (fstab->recs[i].fs_mgr_flags & MF_WAIT) {
-            wait_for_file(n_blk_device, WAIT_TIMEOUT);
+        if (fstab->recs[i].fs_mgr_flags & MF_WAIT && !fs_mgr_wait_for_file(n_blk_device, 20s)) {
+            LERROR << "Skipping mounting '" << n_blk_device << "'";
+            continue;
         }
 
         int fs_stat = 0;
@@ -1232,8 +1211,11 @@
             fclose(zram_fp);
         }
 
-        if (fstab->recs[i].fs_mgr_flags & MF_WAIT) {
-            wait_for_file(fstab->recs[i].blk_device, WAIT_TIMEOUT);
+        if (fstab->recs[i].fs_mgr_flags & MF_WAIT &&
+            !fs_mgr_wait_for_file(fstab->recs[i].blk_device, 20s)) {
+            LERROR << "Skipping mkswap for '" << fstab->recs[i].blk_device << "'";
+            ret = -1;
+            continue;
         }
 
         /* Initialize the swap area */
diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_avb.cpp b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_avb.cpp
index e939dbe..7824cfa 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_avb.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_avb.cpp
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@
     fstab_entry->blk_device = strdup(verity_blk_name.c_str());
 
     // Makes sure we've set everything up properly.
-    if (wait_for_verity_dev && fs_mgr_test_access(verity_blk_name.c_str()) < 0) {
+    if (wait_for_verity_dev && !fs_mgr_wait_for_file(verity_blk_name, 1s)) {
         return false;
     }
 
diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_avb_ops.cpp b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_avb_ops.cpp
index ba1262f..43879fe 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_avb_ops.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_avb_ops.cpp
@@ -142,10 +142,8 @@
     }
     std::string path = iter->second;
 
-    // Ensures the device path (a symlink created by init) is ready to
-    // access. fs_mgr_test_access() will test a few iterations if the
-    // path doesn't exist yet.
-    if (fs_mgr_test_access(path.c_str()) < 0) {
+    // Ensures the device path (a symlink created by init) is ready to access.
+    if (!fs_mgr_wait_for_file(path, 1s)) {
         return AVB_IO_RESULT_ERROR_NO_SUCH_PARTITION;
     }
 
diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_priv.h b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_priv.h
index c5614a6..a5d172b 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_priv.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_priv.h
@@ -17,8 +17,12 @@
 #ifndef __CORE_FS_MGR_PRIV_H
 #define __CORE_FS_MGR_PRIV_H
 
+#include <chrono>
+#include <string>
+
 #include <android-base/logging.h>
-#include <fs_mgr.h>
+
+#include "fs_mgr.h"
 #include "fs_mgr_priv_boot_config.h"
 
 /* The CHECK() in logging.h will use program invocation name as the tag.
@@ -43,8 +47,6 @@
 
 #define CRYPTO_TMPFS_OPTIONS "size=256m,mode=0771,uid=1000,gid=1000"
 
-#define WAIT_TIMEOUT 20
-
 /* fstab has the following format:
  *
  * Any line starting with a # is a comment and ignored
@@ -111,8 +113,11 @@
 
 #define DM_BUF_SIZE 4096
 
+using namespace std::chrono_literals;
+
 int fs_mgr_set_blk_ro(const char *blockdev);
-int fs_mgr_test_access(const char *device);
+bool fs_mgr_wait_for_file(const std::string& filename,
+                          const std::chrono::milliseconds relative_timeout);
 bool fs_mgr_update_for_slotselect(struct fstab *fstab);
 bool fs_mgr_is_device_unlocked();
 bool is_dt_compatible();
diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_verity.cpp b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_verity.cpp
index f997323..5de0903 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_verity.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_verity.cpp
@@ -929,7 +929,7 @@
     }
 
     // make sure we've set everything up properly
-    if (wait_for_verity_dev && fs_mgr_test_access(fstab->blk_device) < 0) {
+    if (wait_for_verity_dev && !fs_mgr_wait_for_file(fstab->blk_device, 1s)) {
         goto out;
     }