diff --git a/testssl.sh b/testssl.sh
index 7fe685f..84db326 100755
--- a/testssl.sh
+++ b/testssl.sh
@@ -204,11 +204,11 @@ CHILD_MASS_TESTING=${CHILD_MASS_TESTING:-false}
 # tuning vars, can not be set by a cmd line switch
 EXPERIMENTAL=${EXPERIMENTAL:-false}
 HEADER_MAXSLEEP=${HEADER_MAXSLEEP:-5}   # we wait this long before killing the process to retrieve a service banner / http header
-readonly MAX_WAITSOCK=10                # waiting at max 10 seconds for socket reply
-readonly CCS_MAX_WAITSOCK=5             # for the two CCS payload (each)
-readonly HEARTBLEED_MAX_WAITSOCK=8      # for the heartbleed payload
+MAX_WAITSOCK=${MAX_WAITSOCK:-10}        # waiting at max 10 seconds for socket reply. There shouldn't be any reason to change this.
+CCS_MAX_WAITSOCK=${CCS_MAX_WAITSOCK:-5} # for the two CCS payload (each). There shouldn't be any reason to change this.
+HEARTBLEED_MAX_WAITSOCK=${HEARTBLEED_MAX_WAITSOCK:-8}      # for the heartbleed payload. There shouldn't be any reason to change this.
 STARTTLS_SLEEP=${STARTTLS_SLEEP:-1}     # max time to wait on a socket replay for STARTTLS
-FAST_STARTTLS=${FAST_STARTTLS:-true}    #at the cost of reliabilty decrease the handshakes for STARTTLS
+FAST_STARTTLS=${FAST_STARTTLS:-true}    # at the cost of reliabilty decrease the handshakes for STARTTLS
 USLEEP_SND=${USLEEP_SND:-0.1}           # sleep time for general socket send
 USLEEP_REC=${USLEEP_REC:-0.2}           # sleep time for general socket receive
 HSTS_MIN=${HSTS_MIN:-179}               # >179 days is ok for HSTS