diff --git a/src/agents/model-catalog-browse.test.ts b/src/agents/model-catalog-browse.test.ts
index d826c68ec75..0e9bda5430d 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-catalog-browse.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-catalog-browse.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.openclaw.js";
 import { loadModelCatalogForBrowse } from "./model-catalog-browse.js";
 import type { ModelCatalogEntry } from "./model-catalog.types.js";
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ function config(params: { providerWildcard?: boolean } = {}): OpenClawConfig {
 }
 
 describe("loadModelCatalogForBrowse", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+  });
+
   it("uses the read-only catalog for default browse views", async () => {
     const loadCatalog = vi.fn(async ({ readOnly }: { readOnly: boolean }) =>
       readOnly ? readOnlyCatalog : fullCatalog,
@@ -79,4 +83,27 @@ describe("loadModelCatalogForBrowse", () => {
     expect(onTimeout).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith(5);
     await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 15));
   });
+
+  it("uses the default timeout when timeoutMs is non-finite", async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const onTimeout = vi.fn();
+    const loadCatalog = vi.fn(
+      () =>
+        new Promise<ModelCatalogEntry[]>((resolve) => {
+          setTimeout(() => resolve(readOnlyCatalog), 5);
+        }),
+    );
+
+    const resultPromise = loadModelCatalogForBrowse({
+      cfg: config(),
+      loadCatalog,
+      timeoutMs: Number.NaN,
+      onTimeout,
+    });
+
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(5);
+
+    await expect(resultPromise).resolves.toBe(readOnlyCatalog);
+    expect(onTimeout).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/agents/model-catalog-browse.ts b/src/agents/model-catalog-browse.ts
index b6c707b75fb..81f1e298851 100644
--- a/src/agents/model-catalog-browse.ts
+++ b/src/agents/model-catalog-browse.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import type { OpenClawConfig } from "../config/types.openclaw.js";
+import { parseFiniteNumber } from "../shared/number-coercion.js";
 import type { ModelCatalogEntry } from "./model-catalog.types.js";
 import { parseConfiguredModelVisibilityEntries } from "./model-selection-shared.js";
 
@@ -6,6 +7,13 @@ export const DEFAULT_MODEL_CATALOG_BROWSE_TIMEOUT_MS = 750;
 
 export type ModelCatalogBrowseView = "default" | "configured" | "all";
 
+function resolveModelCatalogBrowseTimeoutMs(value: number | undefined): number {
+  return Math.max(
+    1,
+    Math.floor(parseFiniteNumber(value) ?? DEFAULT_MODEL_CATALOG_BROWSE_TIMEOUT_MS),
+  );
+}
+
 export async function loadModelCatalogForBrowse(params: {
   cfg: OpenClawConfig;
   view?: ModelCatalogBrowseView;
@@ -22,7 +30,7 @@ export async function loadModelCatalogForBrowse(params: {
   }
 
   let timeout: NodeJS.Timeout | undefined;
-  const timeoutMs = params.timeoutMs ?? DEFAULT_MODEL_CATALOG_BROWSE_TIMEOUT_MS;
+  const timeoutMs = resolveModelCatalogBrowseTimeoutMs(params.timeoutMs);
   const timedOut = Symbol("model-catalog-browse-timeout");
   const catalogPromise = params.loadCatalog({ readOnly: true });
   const timeoutPromise = new Promise<typeof timedOut>((resolve) => {