diff --git a/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py b/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py
index 986e7cd58c2..ed1c41e3256 100755
--- a/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py
+++ b/tools/run_tests/run_tests.py
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ def platform_string():
 
 
 _DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 5 * 60
+_PRE_BUILD_STEP_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 10 * 60
 
 
 def run_shell_command(cmd, env=None, cwd=None):
@@ -1634,7 +1635,10 @@ def build_step_environ(cfg):
 build_steps = list(
     set(
         jobset.JobSpec(
-            cmdline, environ=build_step_environ(build_config), flake_retries=2)
+            cmdline,
+            environ=build_step_environ(build_config),
+            timeout_seconds=_PRE_BUILD_STEP_TIMEOUT_SECONDS,
+            flake_retries=2)
         for l in languages
         for cmdline in l.pre_build_steps()))
 if make_targets: