diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index a6133fcaac0c..84a68aa24ab8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -1157,7 +1157,11 @@ jobs:
     # the budget on two consecutive main runs (33207760653, 33215115341); the job ended
     # `cancelled` and dragged the whole run's conclusion to `cancelled` although every
     # blocking job was green. The upload step now has its own ceiling; this is headroom.
-    timeout-minutes: 30
+    # 45, not 30 (2026-10-20): the budget was eaten by growth — on six PRs the job took
+    # 28–31 min (download 4 min, merge+report+gate 18 min, Codecov ≤5 min) and two of six
+    # died at exactly 30 min as job-timeout `cancelled` (jobs 118735970655, 118737111780),
+    # failing Quality Ratchet / PR Coverage Comment / Gate / CI until a re-run.
+    timeout-minutes: 45
     needs: test-unit
     if: ${{ !cancelled() && needs.test-unit.result == 'success' }}
     env: