diff --git a/app/javascript/packages/captcha-submit-button/captcha-submit-button-element.spec.ts b/app/javascript/packages/captcha-submit-button/captcha-submit-button-element.spec.ts
index f0bdece5bb7..b8bc9bf6f1b 100644
--- a/app/javascript/packages/captcha-submit-button/captcha-submit-button-element.spec.ts
+++ b/app/javascript/packages/captcha-submit-button/captcha-submit-button-element.spec.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,20 @@
 import quibble from 'quibble';
 import type { SinonStub } from 'sinon';
-import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event';
+import baseUserEvent from '@testing-library/user-event';
 import { screen, waitFor, fireEvent } from '@testing-library/dom';
 import { useSandbox, useDefineProperty } from '@18f/identity-test-helpers';
 import '@18f/identity-spinner-button/spinner-button-element';
 
 describe('CaptchaSubmitButtonElement', () => {
-  const sandbox = useSandbox();
+  let FAILED_LOAD_DELAY_MS: number;
+  const sandbox = useSandbox({ useFakeTimers: true });
+  const { clock } = sandbox;
+  const userEvent = baseUserEvent.setup({ advanceTimers: clock.tick });
   const trackError = sandbox.stub();
 
   before(async () => {
     quibble('@18f/identity-analytics', { trackError });
-    await import('./captcha-submit-button-element');
+    ({ FAILED_LOAD_DELAY_MS } = await import('./captcha-submit-button-element'));
   });
 
   afterEach(() => {
@@ -117,7 +120,6 @@ describe('CaptchaSubmitButtonElement', () => {
         await userEvent.click(button);
         await waitFor(() => expect((form.submit as SinonStub).called).to.be.true());
 
-        expect(grecaptcha.ready).to.have.been.called();
         expect(grecaptcha.execute).to.have.been.calledWith(RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY, {
           action: RECAPTCHA_ACTION_NAME,
         });
@@ -126,6 +128,57 @@ describe('CaptchaSubmitButtonElement', () => {
         });
       });
 
+      context('with recaptcha not loaded by time of submission', () => {
+        beforeEach(() => {
+          delete (global as any).grecaptcha;
+        });
+
+        it('enqueues the challenge callback to be run once recaptcha loads', async () => {
+          const button = screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' });
+          const form = document.querySelector('form')!;
+          sandbox.stub(form, 'submit');
+
+          await userEvent.click(button);
+
+          expect(form.submit).not.to.have.been.called();
+          /* eslint-disable no-underscore-dangle */
+          expect((globalThis as any).___grecaptcha_cfg).to.have.keys('fns');
+          expect((globalThis as any).___grecaptcha_cfg.fns)
+            .to.be.an('array')
+            .with.lengthOf.greaterThan(0);
+          (globalThis as any).___grecaptcha_cfg.fns.forEach((callback) => callback());
+          /* eslint-enable no-underscore-dangle */
+
+          await expect(form.submit).to.eventually.be.called();
+        });
+      });
+
+      context('with only recaptcha loader script loaded by time of submission', () => {
+        // The loader script will define the `grecaptcha` global and `ready` function, but it will
+        // not define `execute`.
+        beforeEach(() => {
+          delete (global as any).grecaptcha.execute;
+          delete (global as any).grecaptcha.enterprise.execute;
+        });
+
+        it('enqueues the challenge callback to be run once recaptcha loads', async () => {
+          const button = screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' });
+          const form = document.querySelector('form')!;
+          sandbox.stub(form, 'submit');
+
+          await userEvent.click(button);
+
+          expect(grecaptcha.ready).to.have.been.called();
+
+          // Simulate reCAPTCHA full script loaded
+          (global as any).grecaptcha.execute = sandbox.stub().resolves(RECAPTCHA_TOKEN_VALUE);
+          const callback = (grecaptcha.ready as SinonStub).getCall(0).args[0];
+          callback();
+
+          await expect(form.submit).to.eventually.be.called();
+        });
+      });
+
       context('with recaptcha enterprise', () => {
         beforeEach(() => {
           const element = document.querySelector('lg-captcha-submit-button')!;
@@ -141,7 +194,6 @@ describe('CaptchaSubmitButtonElement', () => {
           await userEvent.click(button);
           await waitFor(() => expect((form.submit as SinonStub).called).to.be.true());
 
-          expect(grecaptcha.enterprise.ready).to.have.been.called();
           expect(grecaptcha.enterprise.execute).to.have.been.calledWith(RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY, {
             action: RECAPTCHA_ACTION_NAME,
           });
@@ -156,19 +208,18 @@ describe('CaptchaSubmitButtonElement', () => {
           delete (global as any).grecaptcha;
         });
 
-        it('does not prevent default form submission', async () => {
+        it('submits the form if recaptcha is still not loaded after reasonable delay', async () => {
           const button = screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Submit' });
           const form = document.querySelector('form')!;
-
-          let didSubmit = false;
-          form.addEventListener('submit', (event) => {
-            expect(event.defaultPrevented).to.equal(false);
-            event.preventDefault();
-            didSubmit = true;
-          });
+          sandbox.stub(form, 'submit');
 
           await userEvent.click(button);
-          await waitFor(() => expect(didSubmit).to.be.true());
+
+          expect(form.submit).not.to.have.been.called();
+          clock.tick(FAILED_LOAD_DELAY_MS - 1);
+          expect(form.submit).not.to.have.been.called();
+          clock.tick(1);
+          expect(form.submit).to.have.been.called();
         });
       });
 
diff --git a/app/javascript/packages/captcha-submit-button/captcha-submit-button-element.ts b/app/javascript/packages/captcha-submit-button/captcha-submit-button-element.ts
index 6177b63732a..6017da75fb7 100644
--- a/app/javascript/packages/captcha-submit-button/captcha-submit-button-element.ts
+++ b/app/javascript/packages/captcha-submit-button/captcha-submit-button-element.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 import { trackError } from '@18f/identity-analytics';
 
+/**
+ * Maximum time (in milliseconds) to wait on reCAPTCHA to finish loading once a form is submitted
+ * before considering reCAPTCHA as having failed to load.
+ */
+export const FAILED_LOAD_DELAY_MS = 5_000;
+
 class CaptchaSubmitButtonElement extends HTMLElement {
   form: HTMLFormElement | null;
 
@@ -46,7 +52,7 @@ class CaptchaSubmitButtonElement extends HTMLElement {
   }
 
   invokeChallenge() {
-    this.recaptchaClient!.ready(async () => {
+    this.#onReady(async () => {
       const { recaptchaSiteKey: siteKey, recaptchaAction: action } = this;
 
       let token;
@@ -62,7 +68,7 @@ class CaptchaSubmitButtonElement extends HTMLElement {
   }
 
   shouldInvokeChallenge(): boolean {
-    return !!(this.recaptchaSiteKey && this.recaptchaClient);
+    return !!this.recaptchaSiteKey;
   }
 
   handleFormSubmit = (event: SubmitEvent) => {
@@ -71,6 +77,25 @@ class CaptchaSubmitButtonElement extends HTMLElement {
       this.invokeChallenge();
     }
   };
+
+  #onReady(callback: Parameters<ReCaptchaV2.ReCaptcha['ready']>[0]) {
+    if (this.recaptchaClient) {
+      this.recaptchaClient.ready(callback);
+    } else {
+      // If reCAPTCHA hasn't finished loading by the time the form is submitted, we can enqueue the
+      // callback to be invoked once loaded by appending a callback to the ___grecaptcha_cfg global.
+      //
+      // See: https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/docs/loading
+
+      const failedLoadTimeoutId = setTimeout(() => this.submit(), FAILED_LOAD_DELAY_MS);
+      const clearFailedLoadTimeout = () => clearTimeout(failedLoadTimeoutId);
+
+      /* eslint-disable no-underscore-dangle */
+      globalThis.___grecaptcha_cfg ??= { fns: [] };
+      globalThis.___grecaptcha_cfg.fns.push(clearFailedLoadTimeout, callback);
+      /* eslint-enable no-underscore-dangle */
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 declare global {