diff --git a/test/mcpl-request-timeout.test.ts b/test/mcpl-request-timeout.test.ts
index 2778469e3..1491ff093 100644
--- a/test/mcpl-request-timeout.test.ts
+++ b/test/mcpl-request-timeout.test.ts
@@ -11,10 +11,16 @@ import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import { McplServerConnection } from '../src/mcpl/server-connection.js';
 import type { McplHostCapabilities, McplServerConfig } from '../src/mcpl/types.js';
 
+// What the stub's tools/list answer says when it wrote a held reply ahead of it.
+const RELEASED = 'released a held reply first';
+
 // Stdio server: answers initialize and tools/list, but swallows tools/call —
-// the "zulip HTML-error / event-loop-wedge" profile (alive, deaf).
+// the "zulip HTML-error / event-loop-wedge" profile (alive, deaf). A test can
+// make it hold a reply in `held` instead, and the next tools/list then writes
+// that reply ahead of its own, so the late reply comes when the test asks.
 const HUNG_SERVER = `
 let buf = '';
+let held = null;
 process.stdin.on('data', (c) => {
   buf += c.toString('utf8');
   let i;
@@ -22,9 +28,13 @@ process.stdin.on('data', (c) => {
     const line = buf.slice(0, i); buf = buf.slice(i + 1);
     if (!line.trim()) continue;
     let m; try { m = JSON.parse(line); } catch { continue; }
-    const reply = (result) => process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify({ jsonrpc: '2.0', id: m.id, result }) + '\\n');
+    const reply = (result, id = m.id) => process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify({ jsonrpc: '2.0', id, result }) + '\\n');
     if (m.method === 'initialize') reply({ capabilities: {} });
-    else if (m.method === 'tools/list') reply({ tools: [{ name: 'stuck', description: 's', inputSchema: { type: 'object' } }] });
+    else if (m.method === 'tools/list') {
+      const released = held !== null;
+      if (held) { reply(held.result, held.id); held = null; }
+      reply({ tools: [{ name: 'stuck', description: released ? '${RELEASED}' : 's', inputSchema: { type: 'object' } }] });
+    }
     // tools/call: deliberately NO response, connection stays open.
   }
 });
@@ -47,6 +57,15 @@ function config(overrides?: Partial<McplServerConfig>): McplServerConfig {
   };
 }
 
+/** Lift a connection's request timeout, so the tools/list that releases a
+ *  held reply has no watchdog of its own to race. It sets a private field,
+ *  which sendRequest reads for each request; the check fails the test if the
+ *  field is renamed, where the lift would otherwise set nothing. */
+function liftRequestTimeout(c: McplServerConnection): void {
+  assert.ok(Object.hasOwn(c, 'requestTimeoutMs'), 'the connection still has its requestTimeoutMs field');
+  (c as unknown as { requestTimeoutMs: number }).requestTimeoutMs = 0;
+}
+
 let connection: McplServerConnection | null = null;
 afterEach(async () => {
   await connection?.close();
@@ -84,13 +103,22 @@ test('a request the server answers in time is unaffected by the timeout', async
   assert.equal(list.tools.length, 1);
 });
 
-test('requestTimeoutMs: 0 disables the per-request watchdog', async () => {
+test('requestTimeoutMs: 0 disables the per-request watchdog', async (t) => {
   connection = await McplServerConnection.connect(config({ requestTimeoutMs: 0 }), HOST_CAPS);
   connection.ready();
 
+  // On a mocked clock, past the longest delay setTimeout takes (2^31 - 1 ms):
+  // a watchdog that 0 failed to disable, the 60 s default or any other, would
+  // have fired by then.
+  t.mock.timers.enable({ apis: ['setTimeout'] });
   let settled = false;
   const call = connection.sendToolsCall('stuck', {}).catch(() => {}).finally(() => { settled = true; });
-  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 300));
+  try {
+    t.mock.timers.tick(2_147_483_647);
+    await new Promise((r) => setImmediate(r));
+  } finally {
+    t.mock.timers.reset();
+  }
   assert.equal(settled, false, 'with timeout disabled the request stays pending');
 
   // Cleanup: closing the connection rejects the pending request.
@@ -114,11 +142,14 @@ test('the timeout error warns the model the tool may have completed server-side'
   );
 });
 
-test('a timed-out request that later receives a response does not crash (orphaned response ignored)', async () => {
-  // Server that answers tools/call after 500ms — beyond a 100ms timeout.
+// The next three tests hold the server's reply, so a timeout that never fires
+// leaves the call pending: the test's own timeout turns that into a failure.
+test('a timed-out request that later receives a response does not crash (orphaned response ignored)', { timeout: 30_000 }, async () => {
+  // The server holds its tools/call reply until the next tools/list, so the
+  // reply comes after the 100ms timeout.
   const SLOW_SERVER = HUNG_SERVER.replace(
     '// tools/call: deliberately NO response, connection stays open.',
-    "else if (m.method === 'tools/call') setTimeout(() => reply({ content: [] }), 500);",
+    "else if (m.method === 'tools/call') held = { id: m.id, result: { content: [] } };",
   );
   connection = await McplServerConnection.connect(
     { id: 'slow', command: process.execPath, args: ['-e', SLOW_SERVER], requestTimeoutMs: 100 },
@@ -126,20 +157,27 @@ test('a timed-out request that later receives a response does not crash (orphane
   );
   connection.ready();
 
+  const orphaned: unknown[] = [];
+  connection.on('orphaned-response', (info) => orphaned.push(info));
+
   await assert.rejects(connection.sendToolsCall('stuck', {}), /did not respond/);
-  // Wait past the server's late response; it must be ignored, not crash.
-  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 600));
+  liftRequestTimeout(connection);
+  // The next tools/list makes the stub write the late reply ahead of the
+  // list's own, on the same stream, so by the time the list resolves the late
+  // reply has been handled: ignored, with no event and no crash.
   const list = await connection.sendToolsList();
-  assert.equal(list.tools.length, 1);
+  assert.equal(list.tools[0]?.description, RELEASED, 'the stub wrote the late reply first');
+  assert.deepEqual(orphaned, [], 'a plain late reply is ignored, not surfaced');
 });
 
-test('a late STATEFUL orphaned response is surfaced via mcpl:orphaned-response (not silently dropped)', async () => {
-  // Server answers tools/call after 500ms with a checkpoint-carrying result —
-  // beyond a 100ms timeout. The host advanced no checkpoint; the server did.
-  // That divergence must be greppable, so the connection emits an event.
+test('a late STATEFUL orphaned response is surfaced via mcpl:orphaned-response (not silently dropped)', { timeout: 30_000 }, async () => {
+  // The server holds a checkpoint-carrying tools/call result until the next
+  // tools/list, after a 100ms timeout. The host advanced no checkpoint; the
+  // server did. That divergence must be greppable, so the connection emits an
+  // event.
   const STATEFUL_SLOW = HUNG_SERVER.replace(
     '// tools/call: deliberately NO response, connection stays open.',
-    "else if (m.method === 'tools/call') setTimeout(() => reply({ content: [], state: { checkpoint: 'cp-late', data: { n: 1 } } }), 500);",
+    "else if (m.method === 'tools/call') held = { id: m.id, result: { content: [], state: { checkpoint: 'cp-late', data: { n: 1 } } } };",
   );
   connection = await McplServerConnection.connect(
     { id: 'slow-stateful', command: process.execPath, args: ['-e', STATEFUL_SLOW], requestTimeoutMs: 100 },
@@ -151,20 +189,21 @@ test('a late STATEFUL orphaned response is surfaced via mcpl:orphaned-response (
   connection.on('orphaned-response', (info) => orphaned.push(info));
 
   await assert.rejects(connection.sendToolsCall('stuck', {}), /did not respond/);
-  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 600));
+  liftRequestTimeout(connection);
+  // The next tools/list releases the late reply ahead of its own answer, so it
+  // has been handled by the time the list resolves, and the connection still
+  // works afterwards.
+  const list = await connection.sendToolsList();
+  assert.equal(list.tools[0]?.description, RELEASED, 'the stub wrote the late reply first');
 
   assert.equal(orphaned.length, 1, 'the dropped stateful response must be surfaced');
   assert.equal(orphaned[0].hadState, true, 'the event records that state was carried');
-
-  // The connection still works afterwards.
-  const list = await connection.sendToolsList();
-  assert.equal(list.tools.length, 1);
 });
 
-test('a mandatory call deadline overrides requestTimeoutMs: 0 and surfaces its late response', async () => {
+test('a mandatory call deadline overrides requestTimeoutMs: 0 and surfaces its late response', { timeout: 30_000 }, async () => {
   const SLOW_SERVER = HUNG_SERVER.replace(
     '// tools/call: deliberately NO response, connection stays open.',
-    "else if (m.method === 'tools/call') setTimeout(() => reply({ content: [] }), 300);",
+    "else if (m.method === 'tools/call') held = { id: m.id, result: { content: [] } };",
   );
   connection = await McplServerConnection.connect(
     { id: 'mandatory-deadline', command: process.execPath, args: ['-e', SLOW_SERVER], requestTimeoutMs: 0 },
@@ -178,7 +217,10 @@ test('a mandatory call deadline overrides requestTimeoutMs: 0 and surfaces its l
     connection.sendToolsCallWithDeadline('stuck', {}, 75),
     /outcome is unknown.*verify state before retrying/i,
   );
-  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 350));
+  // Only the deadline could settle the call, since the server sends nothing
+  // until the next tools/list, which releases the late reply ahead of its own.
+  const list = await connection.sendToolsList();
+  assert.equal(list.tools[0]?.description, RELEASED, 'the stub wrote the late reply first');
 
   assert.deepEqual(orphaned, [{
     method: 'tools/call',