diff --git a/library/utilities/wait_for b/library/utilities/wait_for
index a7fee8935fb..fd7b8cbc295 100644
--- a/library/utilities/wait_for
+++ b/library/utilities/wait_for
@@ -92,11 +92,11 @@ def main():
     port = int(params['port'])
     state = params['state']
 
+    start = datetime.datetime.now()
+
     if delay:
         time.sleep(delay)
 
-    start = datetime.datetime.now()
-
     if state == 'stopped':
         ### first wait for the host to go down
         end = start + datetime.timedelta(seconds=timeout)