diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 4fd8121e..f0dd9cca 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ jobs:
           fetch-depth: 0
       - name: start_backend
         run: ./bin/build_and_run_with_docker_compose
+        timeout-minutes: 20
         env:
           SPIFFWORKFLOW_BACKEND_LOAD_FIXTURE_DATA: "true"
       - name: wait_for_backend