diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/environments/get_all_environments.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/environments/get_all_environments.ts
index 29aaa98169fa5a..8060bf10da99cc 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/environments/get_all_environments.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/environments/get_all_environments.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ export async function getAllEnvironments({
       ],
     },
     body: {
+      // use timeout + min_doc_count to return as early as possible
+      // if filter is not defined to prevent timeouts
+      ...(!serviceName ? { timeout: '1ms' } : {}),
       size: 0,
       query: {
         bool: {
@@ -48,6 +51,7 @@ export async function getAllEnvironments({
           terms: {
             field: SERVICE_ENVIRONMENT,
             size: 100,
+            ...(!serviceName ? { min_doc_count: 0 } : {}),
             missing: includeMissing ? ENVIRONMENT_NOT_DEFINED.value : undefined,
           },
         },
@@ -56,6 +60,7 @@ export async function getAllEnvironments({
   };
 
   const resp = await apmEventClient.search(params);
+
   const environments =
     resp.aggregations?.environments.buckets.map(
       (bucket) => bucket.key as string
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/create_es_client/call_client_with_debug.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/create_es_client/call_client_with_debug.ts
index c4756405952279..9f7aaafbefb8ce 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/create_es_client/call_client_with_debug.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/helpers/create_es_client/call_client_with_debug.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ export async function callClientWithDebug({
   let res: any;
   let esError = null;
   try {
-    res = apiCaller(operationName, params);
+    res = await apiCaller(operationName, params);
   } catch (e) {
     // catch error and throw after outputting debug info
     esError = e;
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/settings/agent_configuration/__snapshots__/queries.test.ts.snap b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/settings/agent_configuration/__snapshots__/queries.test.ts.snap
index 2b465a0f874752..c01e5c87eeea2f 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/settings/agent_configuration/__snapshots__/queries.test.ts.snap
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/settings/agent_configuration/__snapshots__/queries.test.ts.snap
@@ -127,11 +127,13 @@ Object {
       "services": Object {
         "terms": Object {
           "field": "service.name",
+          "min_doc_count": 0,
           "size": 50,
         },
       },
     },
     "size": 0,
+    "timeout": "1ms",
   },
 }
 `;
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/settings/agent_configuration/get_service_names.ts b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/settings/agent_configuration/get_service_names.ts
index 8b6c1d82beab00..91bdfeef003f13 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/settings/agent_configuration/get_service_names.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/apm/server/lib/settings/agent_configuration/get_service_names.ts
@@ -25,12 +25,14 @@ export async function getServiceNames({ setup }: { setup: Setup }) {
       ],
     },
     body: {
+      timeout: '1ms',
       size: 0,
       aggs: {
         services: {
           terms: {
             field: SERVICE_NAME,
             size: 50,
+            min_doc_count: 0,
           },
         },
       },