diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bwcompat/OldIndexBackwardsCompatibilityTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bwcompat/OldIndexBackwardsCompatibilityTests.java
index 4f2937f888a..f1697551632 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bwcompat/OldIndexBackwardsCompatibilityTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/bwcompat/OldIndexBackwardsCompatibilityTests.java
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.bwcompat;
 
+import com.carrotsearch.randomizedtesting.annotations.TimeoutSuite;
+import org.apache.lucene.util.TimeUnits;
 import org.elasticsearch.Version;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.get.GetResponse;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchRequestBuilder;
@@ -48,6 +50,7 @@ import java.util.*;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.ElasticsearchAssertions.assertAcked;
 
+@TimeoutSuite(millis = 40 * TimeUnits.MINUTE)
 public class OldIndexBackwardsCompatibilityTests extends StaticIndexBackwardCompatibilityTest {
     // TODO: test for proper exception on unsupported indexes (maybe via separate test?)
     // We have a 0.20.6.zip etc for this.