diff --git a/libraries/AP_HAL_ChibiOS/Util.cpp b/libraries/AP_HAL_ChibiOS/Util.cpp
index 76897186f7..44bcf8289c 100644
--- a/libraries/AP_HAL_ChibiOS/Util.cpp
+++ b/libraries/AP_HAL_ChibiOS/Util.cpp
@@ -189,9 +189,12 @@ bool Util::flash_bootloader()
     uint32_t fw_size;
     const char *fw_name = "bootloader.bin";
 
+    hal.scheduler->expect_delay_ms(5000);
+
     uint8_t *fw = AP_ROMFS::find_decompress(fw_name, fw_size);
     if (!fw) {
         hal.console->printf("failed to find %s\n", fw_name);
+        hal.scheduler->expect_delay_ms(0);
         return false;
     }
 
@@ -199,6 +202,7 @@ bool Util::flash_bootloader()
     if (!memcmp(fw, (const void*)addr, fw_size)) {
         hal.console->printf("Bootloader up-to-date\n");
         free(fw);
+        hal.scheduler->expect_delay_ms(0);
         return true;
     }
 
@@ -206,6 +210,7 @@ bool Util::flash_bootloader()
     if (!stm32_flash_erasepage(0)) {
         hal.console->printf("Erase failed\n");
         free(fw);
+        hal.scheduler->expect_delay_ms(0);
         return false;
     }
     hal.console->printf("Flashing %s @%08x\n", fw_name, (unsigned int)addr);
@@ -223,11 +228,13 @@ bool Util::flash_bootloader()
         }
         hal.console->printf("Flash OK\n");
         free(fw);
+        hal.scheduler->expect_delay_ms(0);
         return true;
     }
 
     hal.console->printf("Flash failed after %u attempts\n", max_attempts);
     free(fw);
+    hal.scheduler->expect_delay_ms(0);
     return false;
 }