diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/gate-check-v3.yml b/.gitea/workflows/gate-check-v3.yml
index f8d2b42c..7d9e4541 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/gate-check-v3.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/gate-check-v3.yml
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ jobs:
           set -euo pipefail
           # Fetch all open PRs and run gate-check on each
           pr_numbers=$(python3 -c "
-            import urllib.request, json, os
+            import urllib.request, json, os, socket
+            socket.setdefaulttimeout(15)
             token = os.environ['GITEA_TOKEN']
             req = urllib.request.Request(
                 'https://git.moleculesai.app/api/v1/repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls?state=open&limit=100',
diff --git a/tools/gate-check-v3/gate_check.py b/tools/gate-check-v3/gate_check.py
index f25be93e..c705e77a 100644
--- a/tools/gate-check-v3/gate_check.py
+++ b/tools/gate-check-v3/gate_check.py
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ GITEA_HOST = os.environ.get("GITEA_HOST", "git.moleculesai.app")
 GITEA_TOKEN = os.environ.get("GITEA_TOKEN", os.environ.get("GITHUB_TOKEN", ""))
 API_BASE = f"https://{GITEA_HOST}/api/v1"
 
+# Timeout for all HTTP requests (seconds). Prevents indefinite hangs when the
+# Gitea instance is slow or unreachable. Must be short enough that a timeout
+# failure doesn't block the overall job beyond a reasonable window.
+DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 15
+
 
 def api_get(path: str) -> dict | list:
     url = f"{API_BASE}{path}"
@@ -46,7 +51,7 @@ def api_get(path: str) -> dict | list:
         },
     )
     try:
-        with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as r:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=DEFAULT_TIMEOUT) as r:
             return json.loads(r.read())
     except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
         body = e.read().decode(errors="replace")
@@ -521,12 +526,12 @@ def run(repo: str, pr_number: int, post_comment: bool = False) -> dict:
                     comment_id = our_comments[-1]["id"]
                     url = f"{API_BASE}/repos/{owner}/{name}/issues/comments/{comment_id}"
                     req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=json.dumps({"body": comment_body}).encode(), headers=headers, method="PATCH")
-                    with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as r:
+                    with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=DEFAULT_TIMEOUT) as r:
                         r.read()
                 else:
                     url = f"{API_BASE}/repos/{owner}/{name}/issues/{pr_number}/comments"
                     req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=json.dumps({"body": comment_body}).encode(), headers=headers, method="POST")
-                    with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as r:
+                    with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=DEFAULT_TIMEOUT) as r:
                         r.read()
             except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
                 if e.code == 403: