diff --git a/tests/config/remoteServer.ts b/tests/config/remoteServer.ts
index b541628da09c7..75758833da47e 100644
--- a/tests/config/remoteServer.ts
+++ b/tests/config/remoteServer.ts
@@ -165,7 +165,17 @@ export class RemoteServer implements PlaywrightServer {
       await this._browser.close();
       this._browser = undefined;
     }
-    await this._process.kill('SIGINT');
-    await this.childExitCode();
+    // The launchServer child forwards SIGINT to gracefully close the browser and
+    // then exit. A headed browser can intermittently fail to terminate on SIGINT
+    // (observed on macOS chromium), which leaves the child alive and hangs
+    // teardown until the test timeout. Give graceful shutdown a chance, then
+    // escalate to SIGKILL so teardown stays bounded.
+    void this._process.kill('SIGINT');
+    const killTimer = setTimeout(() => void this._process.kill('SIGKILL'), 10000);
+    try {
+      await this.childExitCode();
+    } finally {
+      clearTimeout(killTimer);
+    }
   }
 }