diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 3bf6f19..0e712bc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     env:
       JANET_VERSION: v1.41.2   # bump to match the version Jolt is developed against
+      # Per-file deadline for the clojure-test-suite battery. Finite files finish
+      # in well under 1s; the genuinely-infinite ones get killed at any deadline.
+      # A generous value gives slow CI runners headroom so a sub-second file
+      # spiking doesn't time out and drop total-pass below the baseline.
+      JOLT_SUITE_TIMEOUT: "20"
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
diff --git a/test/integration/clojure-test-suite-test.janet b/test/integration/clojure-test-suite-test.janet
index fce50c2..07bf4ba 100644
--- a/test/integration/clojure-test-suite-test.janet
+++ b/test/integration/clojure-test-suite-test.janet
@@ -41,9 +41,14 @@
 (def baseline-pass 3981)
 # A file is "clean" when it ran with zero failures AND zero errors.
 (def baseline-clean-files 66)
-# Per-file wall-clock budget (seconds). Normal files finish in well under 1s;
-# this only fires on infinite-sequence hangs.
-(def per-file-timeout 6)
+# Per-file wall-clock budget (seconds). Normal files finish in well under 1s, so
+# this normally only fires on genuinely-infinite-sequence hangs. It's an env var
+# (JOLT_SUITE_TIMEOUT) so CI — whose runners are slower than a dev machine — can
+# give slow-but-finite files generous headroom without timing them out (which
+# would drop total-pass below the baseline and flake CI red). Default 6 locally.
+(def per-file-timeout
+  (let [e (os/getenv "JOLT_SUITE_TIMEOUT")]
+    (or (and e (scan-number e)) 6)))
 
 (defn- walk [dir acc]
   (each e (os/dir dir)