diff --git a/script/test b/script/test
index ce6fb6b..28c635a 100755
--- a/script/test
+++ b/script/test
@@ -1,12 +1,32 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 # script/test: run the test suite.
+#
+# -timeout is applied by `go test` per package, not to the run as a whole, so
+# it only has to clear the slowest single package. That is internal/handlers,
+# measured in a cache-defeated builder stage on the 48-core shared build host
+# (2026-08-18, this tree):
+#
+#   16.9s                  host load 5-20, GOMAXPROCS 48
+#   45.9s / 47.3s / 49.0s  three runs at deliberate host load 31-73
+#   30.6s / 39.7s          host load 5-20, GOMAXPROCS 6 / 4
+#   67.3s / 97.5s          host load 5-20, GOMAXPROCS 2 / 1
+#   67.3s                  GOMAXPROCS 4 at deliberate host load 52-68
+#
+# The old 30s budget was breached by every loaded run and by every GOMAXPROCS
+# at or below 6; at GOMAXPROCS 4 it failed outright ("panic: test timed out
+# after 30s"), reproduced on 33e4fa4 with no other change. 180s is 1.85x the
+# worst figure above, and still bounds a genuinely hung package to a wait a
+# human will sit through.
+#
+# REPO_POLICIES.md still states 30s. That figure predates this suite; do not
+# restore it without re-measuring internal/handlers under load.
 set -eu
 
 ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd -P)"
 
 main() {
     cd "$ROOT"
-    go test -v -race -timeout 30s ./...
+    go test -v -race -timeout 180s ./...
 }
 
 main "$@"