diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e3a8dda..29c2c00 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ Note the use of `incremental: true`, which speed up compilation massively.
 * `--only` or `-o`, only run `node:test` with the `only` option set  
 * `--watch` or `-w`, re-run tests on changes
 * `--timeout` or `-t`, timeouts the tests after a given time; default is 30000 ms
+* `--no-timeout`, disables the timeout
 * `--coverage-exclude` or `-X`, a list of comma-separated patterns to exclude from the coverage report. All tests files are ignored by default.
 * `--ignore` or `-i`, ignore a glob pattern, and not look for tests there
 * `--expose-gc`, exposes the gc() function to tests
diff --git a/borp.js b/borp.js
index 6bfa37a..ea15911 100755
--- a/borp.js
+++ b/borp.js
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ const args = parseArgs({
     concurrency: { type: 'string', short: 'c', default: os.availableParallelism() - 1 + '' },
     coverage: { type: 'boolean', short: 'C' },
     timeout: { type: 'string', short: 't', default: '30000' },
+    'no-timeout': { type: 'boolean' },
     'coverage-exclude': { type: 'string', short: 'X', multiple: true },
     ignore: { type: 'string', short: 'i', multiple: true },
     'expose-gc': { type: 'boolean' },
@@ -74,6 +75,10 @@ if (args.values.concurrency) {
   args.values.concurrency = parseInt(args.values.concurrency)
 }
 
+if (args.values['no-timeout']) {
+  delete args.values.timeout
+}
+
 if (args.values.timeout) {
   args.values.timeout = parseInt(args.values.timeout)
 }
diff --git a/fixtures/long/test/long.test.js b/fixtures/long/test/long.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6735c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fixtures/long/test/long.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { ok } from 'node:assert'
+import { test } from 'node:test'
+
+test('this will take a long time', (t, done) => {
+  setTimeout(() => {
+    ok(true)
+    done()
+  }, 1e3)
+  console.log('test:waiting')
+})
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 0187825..2d3d50b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
   "scripts": {
     "clean": "rm -rf fixtures/*/dist .test-*",
     "lint": "standard | snazzy",
-    "unit": "node borp.js --ignore \"fixtures/**/*\" --coverage --coverage-exclude \"fixtures/**/*\" --coverage-exclude \"test/**/*\"",
+    "unit": "node borp.js --ignore \"fixtures/**/*\" --coverage --coverage-exclude \"fixtures/**/*\" --coverage-exclude \"test*/**/*\"",
     "test": "npm run clean ; npm run lint && npm run unit"
   },
   "keywords": [],
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
   "devDependencies": {
     "@matteo.collina/tspl": "^0.1.0",
     "@reporters/silent": "^1.2.4",
+    "@sinonjs/fake-timers": "^11.2.2",
     "@types/node": "^20.10.0",
     "desm": "^1.3.0",
     "snazzy": "^9.0.0",
diff --git a/test-utils/clock.js b/test-utils/clock.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..19da757
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-utils/clock.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import FakeTimers from '@sinonjs/fake-timers'
+
+let clock
+
+if (process.argv[1].endsWith('borp.js')) {
+  clock = FakeTimers.install({
+    node: Date.now(),
+    shouldAdvanceTime: true,
+    advanceTimeDelta: 100
+  })
+  process.on('message', listener)
+}
+
+function listener ([fn, ...args]) {
+  clock[fn](...args)
+  if (fn === 'uninstall') {
+    process.off('message', listener)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/timeout.test.js b/test/timeout.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f954205
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/timeout.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+import { test } from 'node:test'
+import { once } from 'node:events'
+import { pathToFileURL } from 'node:url'
+import { fork } from 'node:child_process'
+import { tspl } from '@matteo.collina/tspl'
+import { join } from 'desm'
+
+const borp = join(import.meta.url, '..', 'borp.js')
+const clock = join(import.meta.url, '..', 'test-utils', 'clock.js')
+const forkOpts = {
+  cwd: join(import.meta.url, '..', 'fixtures', 'long'),
+  env: { NODE_OPTIONS: `--import=${pathToFileURL(clock)}` },
+  stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe', 'ipc']
+}
+
+test('times out after 30s by default', async (t) => {
+  const { ok, equal } = tspl(t, { plan: 4 })
+  const borpProcess = fork(borp, forkOpts)
+  let stdout = ''
+  borpProcess.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
+    stdout += data
+    if (data.includes('test:waiting')) {
+      borpProcess.send(['tick', 30e3])
+      borpProcess.send(['uninstall'])
+    }
+  })
+  const [code] = await once(borpProcess, 'exit')
+  equal(code, 1)
+  ok(stdout.includes('test timed out after 30000ms'))
+  ok(stdout.includes('tests 1'))
+  ok(stdout.includes('cancelled 1'))
+})
+
+test('does not timeout when setting --no-timeout', async (t) => {
+  const { ok, equal } = tspl(t, { plan: 4 })
+  const borpProcess = fork(borp, ['--no-timeout'], forkOpts)
+  borpProcess.stderr.pipe(process.stderr)
+  let stdout = ''
+  borpProcess.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
+    stdout += data
+    if (data.includes('test:waiting')) {
+      borpProcess.send(['tick', 30e3])
+      borpProcess.send(['uninstall'])
+    }
+  })
+  const [code] = await once(borpProcess, 'exit')
+  equal(code, 0)
+  ok(stdout.includes('✔ this will take a long time'))
+  ok(stdout.includes('tests 1'))
+  ok(stdout.includes('pass 1'))
+})
+
+test('timeout is configurable', async (t) => {
+  const { ok, equal } = tspl(t, { plan: 4 })
+  const borpProcess = fork(borp, ['--timeout', '10000'], forkOpts)
+  let stdout = ''
+  borpProcess.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
+    stdout += data
+    if (data.includes('test:waiting')) {
+      borpProcess.send(['tick', 10e3])
+      borpProcess.send(['uninstall'])
+    }
+  })
+  const [code] = await once(borpProcess, 'exit')
+  equal(code, 1)
+  ok(stdout.includes('test timed out after 10000ms'))
+  ok(stdout.includes('tests 1'))
+  ok(stdout.includes('cancelled 1'))
+})