diff --git a/lib/api.js b/lib/api.js
index dcab0fab9..eaf223650 100644
--- a/lib/api.js
+++ b/lib/api.js
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import fork from './fork.js';
 import * as globs from './globs.js';
 import isCi from './is-ci.js';
 import {getApplicableLineNumbers} from './line-numbers.js';
+import {setCappedTimeout} from './now-and-timers.cjs';
 import {observeWorkerProcess} from './plugin-support/shared-workers.js';
 import RunStatus from './run-status.js';
 import scheduler from './scheduler.js';
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ class TimeoutTrigger {
 
 	debounce() {
 		if (this.timer === undefined) {
-			this.timer = setTimeout(() => this.trigger(), this.waitMs);
+			this.timer = setCappedTimeout(() => this.trigger(), this.waitMs);
 		} else {
 			this.timer.refresh();
 		}
diff --git a/lib/now-and-timers.cjs b/lib/now-and-timers.cjs
index 2576d7ef9..851bf6d4d 100644
--- a/lib/now-and-timers.cjs
+++ b/lib/now-and-timers.cjs
@@ -3,3 +3,14 @@ const timers = require('timers');
 
 Object.assign(exports, timers);
 exports.now = Date.now;
+
+// Any delay larger than this value is ignored by Node.js, with a delay of `1`
+// used instead. See <https://nodejs.org/api/timers.html#settimeoutcallback-delay-args>.
+const MAX_DELAY = (2 ** 31) - 1;
+
+function setCappedTimeout(callback, delay) {
+	const safeDelay = Math.min(delay, MAX_DELAY);
+	return timers.setTimeout(callback, safeDelay);
+}
+
+exports.setCappedTimeout = setCappedTimeout;
diff --git a/lib/test.js b/lib/test.js
index d2bb93e2e..d6a39444a 100644
--- a/lib/test.js
+++ b/lib/test.js
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ export default class Test {
 
 		this.clearTimeout();
 		this.timeoutMs = ms;
-		this.timeoutTimer = nowAndTimers.setTimeout(() => {
+		this.timeoutTimer = nowAndTimers.setCappedTimeout(() => {
 			this.saveFirstError(new Error(message || 'Test timeout exceeded'));
 
 			if (this.finishDueToTimeout) {