diff --git a/test/mmtk/helper.rb b/test/mmtk/helper.rb
index e4cff30389..828b3a2b51 100644
--- a/test/mmtk/helper.rb
+++ b/test/mmtk/helper.rb
@@ -9,9 +9,18 @@ module MMTk
 
     def setup
       omit "Not running on MMTk" unless using_mmtk?
+
+      @original_timeout_scale = EnvUtil.timeout_scale
+      timeout_scale = ENV["RUBY_TEST_TIMEOUT_SCALE"].to_f
+      EnvUtil.timeout_scale = timeout_scale if timeout_scale > 0
+
       super
     end
 
+    def teardown
+      EnvUtil.timeout_scale = @original_timeout_scale
+    end
+
     private
 
     def using_mmtk?
diff --git a/test/mmtk/test_configuration.rb b/test/mmtk/test_configuration.rb
index bde3366fa7..427cd9a079 100644
--- a/test/mmtk/test_configuration.rb
+++ b/test/mmtk/test_configuration.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
+
 require_relative "helper"
+
 module MMTk
   class TestConfiguration < TestCase
     def test_MMTK_THREADS