diff --git a/playwright/tests/conftest.py b/playwright/tests/conftest.py
index 66a3c25a..8af17bb6 100644
--- a/playwright/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/playwright/tests/conftest.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ class Starter(ProcessStarter):
 
         terminate_on_interrupt = True
 
+        timeout = 20
+
     # ensure process is running and return its logfile
     logfile = xprocess.ensure("estimator", Starter)