diff --git a/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/__init__.py b/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/__init__.py
index 371719d7a988..9daae1e941a6 100755
--- a/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/__init__.py
+++ b/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/__init__.py
@@ -76,6 +76,14 @@ def main() -> None:
         nargs="*",
         help="vlans to span by the driver",
     )
+    arg_parser.add_argument(
+        "--global-timeout",
+        type=int,
+        metavar="GLOBAL_TIMEOUT",
+        action=EnvDefault,
+        envvar="globalTimeout",
+        help="Timeout in seconds for the whole test",
+    )
     arg_parser.add_argument(
         "-o",
         "--output_directory",
@@ -103,6 +111,7 @@ def main() -> None:
         args.testscript.read_text(),
         args.output_directory.resolve(),
         args.keep_vm_state,
+        args.global_timeout,
     ) as driver:
         if args.interactive:
             history_dir = os.getcwd()
diff --git a/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/driver.py b/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/driver.py
index 723c80717860..786821b0cc0d 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/driver.py
+++ b/nixos/lib/test-driver/test_driver/driver.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import os
 import re
+import signal
 import tempfile
+import threading
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Callable, ContextManager, Dict, Iterator, List, Optional, Union
@@ -41,6 +43,8 @@ class Driver:
     vlans: List[VLan]
     machines: List[Machine]
     polling_conditions: List[PollingCondition]
+    global_timeout: int
+    race_timer: threading.Timer
 
     def __init__(
         self,
@@ -49,9 +53,12 @@ class Driver:
         tests: str,
         out_dir: Path,
         keep_vm_state: bool = False,
+        global_timeout: int = 24 * 60 * 60 * 7,
     ):
         self.tests = tests
         self.out_dir = out_dir
+        self.global_timeout = global_timeout
+        self.race_timer = threading.Timer(global_timeout, self.terminate_test)
 
         tmp_dir = get_tmp_dir()
 
@@ -82,6 +89,7 @@ class Driver:
 
     def __exit__(self, *_: Any) -> None:
         with rootlog.nested("cleanup"):
+            self.race_timer.cancel()
             for machine in self.machines:
                 machine.release()
 
@@ -144,6 +152,10 @@ class Driver:
 
     def run_tests(self) -> None:
         """Run the test script (for non-interactive test runs)"""
+        rootlog.info(
+            f"Test will time out and terminate in {self.global_timeout} seconds"
+        )
+        self.race_timer.start()
         self.test_script()
         # TODO: Collect coverage data
         for machine in self.machines:
@@ -161,6 +173,19 @@ class Driver:
         with rootlog.nested("wait for all VMs to finish"):
             for machine in self.machines:
                 machine.wait_for_shutdown()
+            self.race_timer.cancel()
+
+    def terminate_test(self) -> None:
+        # This will be usually running in another thread than
+        # the thread actually executing the test script.
+        with rootlog.nested("timeout reached; test terminating..."):
+            for machine in self.machines:
+                machine.release()
+            # As we cannot `sys.exit` from another thread
+            # We can at least force the main thread to get SIGTERM'ed.
+            # This will prevent any user who caught all the exceptions
+            # to swallow them and prevent itself from terminating.
+            os.kill(os.getpid(), signal.SIGTERM)
 
     def create_machine(self, args: Dict[str, Any]) -> Machine:
         tmp_dir = get_tmp_dir()
diff --git a/nixos/lib/testing-python.nix b/nixos/lib/testing-python.nix
index 4904ad6e3591..f5222351518b 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/testing-python.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/testing-python.nix
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ rec {
     , nodes ? {}
     , testScript
     , enableOCR ? false
+    , globalTimeout ? (60 * 60)
     , name ? "unnamed"
     , skipTypeCheck ? false
       # Skip linting (mainly intended for faster dev cycles)
diff --git a/nixos/lib/testing/driver.nix b/nixos/lib/testing/driver.nix
index cc97ca72083f..b6f01c38191d 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/testing/driver.nix
+++ b/nixos/lib/testing/driver.nix
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ let
         wrapProgram $out/bin/nixos-test-driver \
           --set startScripts "''${vmStartScripts[*]}" \
           --set testScript "$out/test-script" \
+          --set globalTimeout "${toString config.globalTimeout}" \
           --set vlans '${toString vlans}' \
           ${lib.escapeShellArgs (lib.concatMap (arg: ["--add-flags" arg]) config.extraDriverArgs)}
       '';
@@ -123,6 +124,18 @@ in
       defaultText = "hostPkgs.qemu_test";
     };
 
+    globalTimeout = mkOption {
+      description = mdDoc ''
+        A global timeout for the complete test, expressed in seconds.
+        Beyond that timeout, every resource will be killed and released and the test will fail.
+
+        By default, we use a 1 hour timeout.
+      '';
+      type = types.int;
+      default = 60 * 60;
+      example = 10 * 60;
+    };
+
     enableOCR = mkOption {
       description = mdDoc ''
         Whether to enable Optical Character Recognition functionality for