diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9e5497c..b65cf17 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ steps:
       fail-on-denial: true
       additional-approved-words: ''
       additional-denied-words: ''
+      polling-interval-seconds: 10
 ```
 
 * `approvers` is a comma-delimited list of all required approvers. An approver can either be a user or an org team. (*Note: Required approvers must have the ability to be set as approvers in the repository. If you add an approver that doesn't have this permission then you would receive an HTTP/402 Validation Failed error when running this action*)
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ steps:
 * `fail-on-denial` is a boolean that indicates if the workflow should fail if any approver denies the approval. This is optional and defaults to `true`. Set this to `false` to allow the workflow to continue if any approver denies the approval.
 * `additional-approved-words` is a comma separated list of strings to expand the dictionary of words that indicate approval. This is optional and defaults to an empty string.
 * `additional-denied-words` is a comma separated list of strings to expand the dictionary of words that indicate denial. This is optional and defaults to an empty string.
+* `polling-interval-seconds` is an integer that sets the number of seconds to wait between polling the GitHub API for approval status. This is optional and defaults to `10` seconds. Increase this value if you want to reduce API calls, or decrease it for faster response times.
 
 > [!Note]
 > 1. If You are using issue-body-file-path then please make sure the file is reachable; for example, if the file is in your repo, then please checkout to your repo in the same job as the approval issue.
diff --git a/action.yaml b/action.yaml
index a8b661b..cdbf793 100644
--- a/action.yaml
+++ b/action.yaml
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ inputs:
     description: Whether or not to fail the workflow if the approval is denied
     required: false
     default: 'true'
+  polling-interval-seconds:
+    description: Number of seconds to wait between polling GitHub API for approval status
+    required: false
+    default: '10'
 outputs:
   issue-number:
     description: The number of the issue created
diff --git a/constants.go b/constants.go
index 88867e3..69c509e 100644
--- a/constants.go
+++ b/constants.go
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	pollingInterval time.Duration = 10 * time.Second
+	defaultPollingInterval time.Duration = 10 * time.Second
 
 	envVarRepoFullName                       string = "GITHUB_REPOSITORY"
 	envVarRunID                              string = "GITHUB_RUN_ID"
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ const (
 	envVarFailOnDenial                       string = "INPUT_FAIL-ON-DENIAL"
 	envVarTargetRepoOwner                    string = "INPUT_TARGET-REPOSITORY-OWNER"
 	envVarTargetRepo                         string = "INPUT_TARGET-REPOSITORY"
+	envVarPollingIntervalSeconds             string = "INPUT_POLLING-INTERVAL-SECONDS"
 )
 
 var (
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index e18a395..89305fd 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func handleInterrupt(ctx context.Context, client *github.Client, apprv *approval
 	}
 }
 
-func newCommentLoopChannel(ctx context.Context, apprv *approvalEnvironment, client *github.Client) chan int {
+func newCommentLoopChannel(ctx context.Context, apprv *approvalEnvironment, client *github.Client, pollingInterval time.Duration) chan int {
 	channel := make(chan int)
 	go func() {
 		for {
@@ -198,6 +198,21 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
+	pollingInterval := defaultPollingInterval
+	pollingIntervalSecondsRaw := os.Getenv(envVarPollingIntervalSeconds)
+	if pollingIntervalSecondsRaw != "" {
+		pollingIntervalSeconds, err := strconv.Atoi(pollingIntervalSecondsRaw)
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Printf("error parsing polling interval: %v\n", err)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		if pollingIntervalSeconds <= 0 {
+			fmt.Printf("error: polling interval must be greater than 0\n")
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		pollingInterval = time.Duration(pollingIntervalSeconds) * time.Second
+	}
+
 	issueTitle := os.Getenv(envVarIssueTitle)
 	var issueBody string
 	if os.Getenv(envVarIssueBodyFilePath) != "" {
@@ -245,7 +260,7 @@ func main() {
 	killSignalChannel := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
 	signal.Notify(killSignalChannel, os.Interrupt)
 
-	commentLoopChannel := newCommentLoopChannel(ctx, apprv, client)
+	commentLoopChannel := newCommentLoopChannel(ctx, apprv, client, pollingInterval)
 
 	select {
 	case exitCode := <-commentLoopChannel: