diff --git a/.ci/ci.sh b/.ci/ci.sh
index f543967dc5..d89776535a 100755
--- a/.ci/ci.sh
+++ b/.ci/ci.sh
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ CONTAINER_CMD=${CONTAINER_CMD:-podman}
 CONTAINER_WORKSPACE="/workspace"
 CONTAINER_WORKDIR="/workspace/ovn-tmp"
 IMAGE_NAME=${IMAGE_NAME:-"ovn-org/ovn-tests"}
+TIMEOUT=${TIMEOUT:-"0"}
 
 # Test variables
 ARCH=${ARCH:-$(uname -m)}
@@ -100,7 +101,8 @@ function run_tests() {
         && \
         ARCH=$ARCH CC=$CC LIBS=$LIBS OPTS=$OPTS TESTSUITE=$TESTSUITE \
         TEST_RANGE=$TEST_RANGE SANITIZERS=$SANITIZERS DPDK=$DPDK \
-        RECHECK=$RECHECK UNSTABLE=$UNSTABLE ./.ci/linux-build.sh
+        RECHECK=$RECHECK UNSTABLE=$UNSTABLE TIMEOUT=$TIMEOUT \
+        ./.ci/linux-build.sh
     "
 }
 
@@ -115,7 +117,8 @@ function check_clang_version_ge() {
 }
 
 options=$(getopt --options "" \
-    --long help,shell,archive-logs,jobs:,ovn-path:,ovs-path:,image-name:\
+    --long help,shell,archive-logs,jobs:,ovn-path:,ovs-path:,\
+    image-name:,timeout:\
     -- "${@}")
 eval set -- "$options"
 while true; do
@@ -142,11 +145,15 @@ while true; do
     --archive-logs)
         archive_logs="1"
         ;;
+    --timeout)
+        shift
+        TIMEOUT="$1"
+        ;;
     --help)
         set +x
         printf "$0 [--shell] [--help] [--archive-logs] [--jobs=<JOBS>] "
         printf "[--ovn-path=<OVN_PATH>] [--ovs-path=<OVS_PATH>] "
-        printf "[--image-name=<IMAGE_NAME>]\n"
+        printf "[--image-name=<IMAGE_NAME>] [--timeout=<TIMEOUT>]\n"
         exit
         ;;
     --)
diff --git a/.ci/linux-build.sh b/.ci/linux-build.sh
index 75a9480f9a..7740f7a3f1 100755
--- a/.ci/linux-build.sh
+++ b/.ci/linux-build.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ OVN_CFLAGS=""
 OPTS="$OPTS --enable-Werror"
 JOBS=${JOBS:-"-j4"}
 RECHECK=${RECHECK:-"no"}
+TIMEOUT=${TIMEOUT:="0"}
 
 function install_dpdk()
 {
@@ -105,7 +106,8 @@ function configure_clang()
 
 function run_tests()
 {
-    if ! make distcheck CFLAGS="${COMMON_CFLAGS} ${OVN_CFLAGS}" $JOBS \
+    if ! timeout $TIMEOUT make distcheck \
+        CFLAGS="${COMMON_CFLAGS} ${OVN_CFLAGS}" $JOBS \
         TESTSUITEFLAGS="$JOBS $TEST_RANGE" RECHECK=$RECHECK \
         SKIP_UNSTABLE=$SKIP_UNSTABLE
     then
@@ -147,8 +149,9 @@ function run_system_tests()
     local type=$1
     local log_file=$2
 
-    if ! sudo make $JOBS $type TESTSUITEFLAGS="$TEST_RANGE" \
-            RECHECK=$RECHECK SKIP_UNSTABLE=$SKIP_UNSTABLE; then
+    if ! sudo timeout $TIMEOUT make $JOBS $type \
+            TESTSUITEFLAGS="$TEST_RANGE" RECHECK=$RECHECK \
+            SKIP_UNSTABLE=$SKIP_UNSTABLE; then
         # $log_file is necessary for debugging.
         cat tests/$log_file
         return 1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index f7a184c130..47085c4fe7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -168,11 +168,11 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: build
       if: ${{ startsWith(matrix.cfg.testsuite, 'system-test') }}
-      run: sudo -E ./.ci/ci.sh --archive-logs
+      run: sudo -E ./.ci/ci.sh --archive-logs --timeout=1h
 
     - name: build
       if: ${{ !startsWith(matrix.cfg.testsuite, 'system-test') }}
-      run: ./.ci/ci.sh --archive-logs
+      run: ./.ci/ci.sh --archive-logs --timeout=1h
 
     - name: upload logs on failure
       if: failure() || cancelled()