diff --git a/pkg/gui/test_mode.go b/pkg/gui/test_mode.go
index d6893c92d..0b24bb8cd 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/test_mode.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/test_mode.go
@@ -45,9 +45,10 @@ func (gui *Gui) handleTestMode() {
 		}()
 
 		if os.Getenv(components.WAIT_FOR_DEBUGGER_ENV_VAR) == "" {
+			timeout := 40 * time.Second * testTimeoutMultiplier
 			go utils.Safe(func() {
-				time.Sleep(time.Second * 40)
-				log.Fatal("40 seconds is up, lazygit recording took too long to complete")
+				time.Sleep(timeout)
+				log.Fatalf("%v is up, lazygit integration test took too long to complete", timeout)
 			})
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/gui/test_timeout_norace.go b/pkg/gui/test_timeout_norace.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7f924ea71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/gui/test_timeout_norace.go
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+//go:build !race
+
+package gui
+
+const testTimeoutMultiplier = 1
diff --git a/pkg/gui/test_timeout_race.go b/pkg/gui/test_timeout_race.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d633def3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/gui/test_timeout_race.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+//go:build race
+
+package gui
+
+// The race detector makes everything run several times slower, so the
+// recording watchdog needs a correspondingly longer timeout; otherwise it
+// fires on tests that are merely slow under -race rather than actually stuck.
+// The `race` build tag is set automatically when the binary is built with
+// -race, so this can't drift out of sync with the actual build.
+const testTimeoutMultiplier = 4