diff --git a/src/browser/server-context.ensure-browser-available.waits-for-cdp-ready.test.ts b/src/browser/server-context.ensure-browser-available.waits-for-cdp-ready.test.ts
index 92146de60b9..b16017e521b 100644
--- a/src/browser/server-context.ensure-browser-available.waits-for-cdp-ready.test.ts
+++ b/src/browser/server-context.ensure-browser-available.waits-for-cdp-ready.test.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,18 @@
 import type { ChildProcessWithoutNullStreams } from "node:child_process";
 import { EventEmitter } from "node:events";
 import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+vi.mock("./chrome.js", () => ({
+  isChromeCdpReady: vi.fn(async () => true),
+  isChromeReachable: vi.fn(async () => true),
+  launchOpenClawChrome: vi.fn(async () => {
+    throw new Error("unexpected launch");
+  }),
+  resolveOpenClawUserDataDir: vi.fn(() => "/tmp/openclaw-test"),
+  stopOpenClawChrome: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+}));
+
 import * as chromeModule from "./chrome.js";
-import "./server-context.chrome-test-harness.js";
 import type { BrowserServerState } from "./server-context.js";
 import { createBrowserRouteContext } from "./server-context.js";
 
diff --git a/src/browser/server-context.ts b/src/browser/server-context.ts
index 26e8ce5c38b..1890f56efcc 100644
--- a/src/browser/server-context.ts
+++ b/src/browser/server-context.ts
@@ -286,9 +286,15 @@ function createProfileContext(
       // launchOpenClawChrome() can return before Chrome is fully ready to serve /json/version + CDP WS.
       // If a follow-up call (snapshot/screenshot/etc.) races ahead, we can hit PortInUseError trying to
       // launch again on the same port. Poll briefly so browser(action="start"/"open") is stable.
-      const maxAttempts = 50;
-      for (let attempt = 0; attempt < maxAttempts; attempt++) {
-        if (await isReachable(1200)) {
+      //
+      // Bound the wait by wall-clock time to avoid long stalls when /json/version is reachable
+      // but the CDP WebSocket never becomes ready.
+      const deadlineMs = Date.now() + 8000;
+      while (Date.now() < deadlineMs) {
+        const remainingMs = Math.max(0, deadlineMs - Date.now());
+        // Keep each attempt short; loopback profiles derive a WS timeout from this value.
+        const attemptTimeoutMs = Math.max(75, Math.min(250, remainingMs));
+        if (await isReachable(attemptTimeoutMs)) {
           return;
         }
         await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 100));