diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 3f9632f42a..fab82c7004 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build
         id: build
         background: true
+        timeout-minutes: 5
         run: dotnet build tests.proj --configuration Release -graph
       # there is an issue with az cli and python 3.14, so for now we need to pin it
       # once the issue is resolved it should be able to be re-floated
@@ -119,19 +120,19 @@ jobs:
           # Cleanup of queues starting with `GHA-` handled by https://github.com/Particular/NServiceBus.AmazonSQS/blob/master/.github/workflows/tests-cleanup.yml
           $connectString = "AccessKeyId=${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }};SecretAccessKey=${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }};Region=${{ secrets.AWS_REGION }};QueueNamePrefix=GHA-${{ github.run_id }}"
           echo "ServiceControl_TransportTests_SQS_ConnectionString=$connectString" | Out-File -FilePath $Env:GITHUB_ENV -Encoding utf-8 -Append
-      # The Azure steps below create real cloud resources, so they sit behind the wait as well.
-      - name: Wait for build
-        wait: build
       # Provisions the WSL2 Docker host that the SQL Server, PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ and IBM MQ containers
       # run in on Windows. A no-op on Linux, but still run there so those actions see the same
-      # environment variables on both runners. It and the container setups run after the build on
-      # purpose: with the VM and the build competing for the runner's memory, jobs have died with "The
-      # hosted runner lost communication with the server".
+      # environment variables on both runners. It and the container setups overlap the build on
+      # purpose. Serialising them behind the wait (#5873) did not stop the runner hangs it was meant to
+      # prevent and cost the critical path about two minutes; the step timeouts turn a hang into a
+      # five minute failure instead of a thirty minute one.
       - name: Setup WSL
         if: contains(fromJSON('["RabbitMQ", "SqlServer", "PostgreSql", "IBMMQ"]'), matrix.test-category)
         uses: Particular/setup-wsl-action@v1.2.0
+        timeout-minutes: 5
         with:
-          # The action defaults to 4GB. The runner has 16GB, so give the VM real headroom.
+          # The action defaults to 4GB. The runner has 16GB and the build runs concurrently with the
+          # container starting up, so give the VM real headroom.
           memory: 8GB
       - name: Setup SQL Server
         uses: Particular/install-sql-server-action@v3.0.0
@@ -165,6 +166,9 @@ jobs:
         if: matrix.test-category == 'IBMMQ'
         with:
           connection-string-name: ServiceControl_TransportTests_IBMMQ_ConnectionString
+      # The Azure steps below create real cloud resources, so they sit behind the wait.
+      - name: Wait for build
+        wait: build
       - name: Azure login
         uses: azure/login@v3.1.0
         if: matrix.test-category == 'AzureServiceBus' || matrix.test-category == 'AzureStorageQueues'