diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/dreaming-narrative.test.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/dreaming-narrative.test.ts
index 6bdfc70645c..3bd36793dc6 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/dreaming-narrative.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/dreaming-narrative.test.ts
@@ -675,7 +675,7 @@ describe("generateAndAppendDreamNarrative", () => {
     });
 
     expect(subagent.waitForRun).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
-    expect(subagent.waitForRun.mock.calls[0][0]).toMatchObject({ timeoutMs: 15_000 });
+    expect(subagent.waitForRun.mock.calls[0][0]).toMatchObject({ timeoutMs: 60_000 });
     expect(logger.warn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.stringContaining("narrative session cleanup failed for rem phase"),
     );
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/dreaming-narrative.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/dreaming-narrative.ts
index 347af57c2aa..f67e7e65472 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/dreaming-narrative.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/dreaming-narrative.ts
@@ -87,10 +87,15 @@ const NARRATIVE_SYSTEM_PROMPT = [
   "- Output ONLY the diary entry. No preamble, no sign-off, no commentary.",
 ].join("\n");
 
-// Narrative generation is best-effort. Keep the timeout short so a stalled
+// Narrative generation is best-effort. Keep the timeout bounded so a stalled
 // diary subagent does not leave the parent dreaming cron job "running" for
-// minutes after the reports have already been written.
-const NARRATIVE_TIMEOUT_MS = 15_000;
+// many minutes after the reports have already been written. The previous 15 s
+// limit was empirically too tight for warm-gateway runs across light, REM, and
+// deep phases — even unblocked LLM calls hit it on the first sweep after a
+// restart. 60 s gives realistic latency headroom while still capping the
+// worst case at one minute, well below the multi-minute stall the original
+// comment warned against.
+const NARRATIVE_TIMEOUT_MS = 60_000;
 const DREAMING_SESSION_KEY_PREFIX = "dreaming-narrative-";
 const DREAMING_TRANSCRIPT_RUN_MARKER = '"runId":"dreaming-narrative-';
 const DREAMING_ORPHAN_MIN_AGE_MS = 300_000;