diff --git a/lib/runnable.js b/lib/runnable.js
index ced40be753..ed585eb93f 100644
--- a/lib/runnable.js
+++ b/lib/runnable.js
@@ -80,8 +80,14 @@ Runnable.prototype.timeout = function(ms) {
   var range = [0, INT_MAX];
   ms = utils.clamp(ms, range);
 
-  debug('timeout %d', ms);
-  this._timeout = ms;
+  // see #1652 for reasoning
+  if (ms === range[0] || ms === range[1]) {
+    this._timeout = 0;
+  } else {
+    this._timeout = ms;
+  }
+  debug('timeout %d', this._timeout);
+
   if (this.timer) {
     this.resetTimeout();
   }
diff --git a/test/unit/runnable.spec.js b/test/unit/runnable.spec.js
index 417b3039c9..fa328441ca 100644
--- a/test/unit/runnable.spec.js
+++ b/test/unit/runnable.spec.js
@@ -74,14 +74,8 @@ describe('Runnable(title, fn)', function() {
         run.timeout(MAX_TIMEOUT);
       });
       describe('given numeric value', function() {
-        it('should set the timeout value', function() {
-          expect(run.timeout(), 'to be', MAX_TIMEOUT);
-        });
-      });
-
-      describe('given string timestamp', function() {
-        it('should set the timeout value', function() {
-          expect(run.timeout(), 'to be', MAX_TIMEOUT);
+        it('should set the disabled timeout value', function() {
+          expect(run.timeout(), 'to be', 0);
         });
       });
     });
@@ -96,14 +90,8 @@ describe('Runnable(title, fn)', function() {
       });
 
       describe('given numeric value', function() {
-        it('should clamp the value to max timeout', function() {
-          expect(run.timeout(), 'to be', MAX_TIMEOUT);
-        });
-      });
-
-      describe('given string timestamp', function() {
-        it('should clamp the value to max timeout', function() {
-          expect(run.timeout(), 'to be', MAX_TIMEOUT);
+        it('should set the disabled timeout value', function() {
+          expect(run.timeout(), 'to be', 0);
         });
       });
     });