diff --git a/tests/gitea/custom/test_lfs_roundtrip.py b/tests/gitea/custom/test_lfs_roundtrip.py
index f118066..fb9544d 100644
--- a/tests/gitea/custom/test_lfs_roundtrip.py
+++ b/tests/gitea/custom/test_lfs_roundtrip.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import shutil
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import tempfile
+import time
 import urllib.error
 import urllib.request
 
@@ -45,7 +46,15 @@ def _lfs_available() -> bool:
     return os.path.exists(os.path.join(abra_dir, "recipes", "gitea", _LFS_OVERLAY))
 
 
-def _api(domain, path, method="GET", body=None, user="", password=""):
+API_TIMEOUT = 20
+
+
+def _api(domain, path, method="GET", body=None, user="", password="", timeout=API_TIMEOUT):
+    """One API call → (status, JSON). Never raises: transient errors (connection refused /
+    dropped mid-restart, DNS, socket timeout) return (0, {}) so a caller's bounded poll can
+    simply retry, mirroring lifecycle.http_fetch. Only HTTPError was caught before; a socket
+    timeout on a slow post-restart boot (gitea 28.0.0 migration window, PR #10 run #31) escaped
+    as TimeoutError and aborted the restart poll itself."""
     data = json.dumps(body).encode() if body is not None else None
     auth = base64.b64encode(f"{user}:{password}".encode()).decode()
     headers = {"Authorization": f"Basic {auth}"}
@@ -55,7 +64,7 @@ def _api(domain, path, method="GET", body=None, user="", password=""):
         f"https://{domain}/api/v1{path}", data=data, headers=headers, method=method
     )
     try:
-        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=20, context=_CTX) as r:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=timeout, context=_CTX) as r:
             raw = r.read()
             return r.status, (json.loads(raw) if raw else {})
     except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
@@ -64,6 +73,8 @@ def _api(domain, path, method="GET", body=None, user="", password=""):
             return e.code, json.loads(raw)
         except (ValueError, json.JSONDecodeError):
             return e.code, {}
+    except (urllib.error.URLError, TimeoutError, OSError):  # TimeoutError ⊃ socket.timeout (UP041)
+        return 0, {}
 
 
 def _run_git(args, cwd, env=None):
@@ -164,6 +175,8 @@ def test_lfs_roundtrip(live_app):
         finally:
             shutil.rmtree(fresh_dir, ignore_errors=True)
 
+        import recipe_meta  # noqa: E402 — per-recipe declared timeouts (tests/STYLE.md §5)
+
         # 7. JWT-secret stability: restart gitea + assert LFS_JWT_SECRET unchanged.
         #    Read the current secret from inside the container's rendered app.ini.
         current_jwt = lifecycle.exec_in_app(
@@ -182,14 +195,15 @@ def test_lfs_roundtrip(live_app):
             capture_output=True,
             timeout=120,
         )
-        # Wait for gitea to come back up
-
-        # Re-read meta from the live_app fixture (meta is not in scope here — use the stored meta)
-        import time
-
-        deadline = time.time() + 120
+        # Wait for gitea to come back up. Window + probe are DERIVED from the recipe's declared
+        # readiness (recipe_meta.HTTP_TIMEOUT / READY_PROBE — the /api/v1/version readiness that
+        # recipe_meta already declares for the harness, not a guess) — tests/STYLE.md §5.
+        wait_timeout = int(getattr(recipe_meta, "HTTP_TIMEOUT", 300))
+        probe_path = "/version"  # READY_PROBE's readiness path (rules carry only ok + domain)
+        deadline = time.time() + wait_timeout
+        status2 = 0
         while time.time() < deadline:
-            status2, _ = _api(live_app, "/version", user=user, password=password)
+            status2, _ = _api(live_app, probe_path, user=user, password=password)
             if status2 == 200:
                 break
             time.sleep(5)