diff --git a/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py b/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py
index a05fbe806a8b0452a261b1419c11971b29b9bab8..cb366c0a15c3d6f934e867a2742f818878c8d8e7 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py
+++ b/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py
@@ -660,7 +660,7 @@ if make_targets:
   make_commands = itertools.chain.from_iterable(make_jobspec(cfg, list(targets), makefile) for cfg in build_configs for (makefile, targets) in make_targets.iteritems())
   build_steps.extend(set(make_commands))
 build_steps.extend(set(
-                   jobset.JobSpec(cmdline, environ={'CONFIG': cfg})
+                   jobset.JobSpec(cmdline, environ={'CONFIG': cfg}, timeout_seconds=10*60)
                    for cfg in build_configs
                    for l in languages
                    for cmdline in l.build_steps()))