diff --git a/ci/test_core.sh b/ci/test_core.sh
index f3aabe73..82997848 100755
--- a/ci/test_core.sh
+++ b/ci/test_core.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,17 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # ci/test_core.sh — run the Flutter-free core Dart tests.
 #
-# Covers `test/` at the repo root (IPC, daemon, PTY). Wraps `dart test`
-# in a hard timeout + process-group kill so a hanging test (typically
-# one holding a native fd open) can't wedge CI or pre-push.
+# Covers `test/` at the repo root (IPC, daemon, PTY, git, panes, files,
+# editor, pql). Each pass runs under `dart test --timeout` so a hanging
+# test (typically one holding a native fd open) fails fast instead of
+# wedging CI or the pre-push gate — the same portable mechanism ci/test.sh
+# uses for the Flutter suite. No external `timeout`/`setsid` wrapper: those
+# are GNU coreutils and absent on macOS, where their failure silently
+# skipped the whole suite.
 #
 # Rationale: D-030 makes tests client-side only; a hang here is always
 # local — either a real bug or a bad test. Either way we'd rather fail
-# loudly at 120s than block a pre-push indefinitely.
+# loudly at the per-test timeout than block a pre-push indefinitely.
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
@@ -20,32 +24,21 @@ if ! command -v dart >/dev/null; then
   exit 2
 fi
 
-# Hard timeout (seconds). The PTY tests should finish in <5s; IPC/daemon
-# tests are faster still. 120s is generous for CI warmup, tiny for a
-# hang.
-TIMEOUT_SECONDS=${TIMEOUT_SECONDS:-120}
+# Per-test hard timeout. The PTY tests should finish in <5s; IPC/daemon
+# tests are faster still. 60s is generous for CI warmup, tiny for a hang.
+# Matches ci/test.sh's --timeout 60s.
+TEST_TIMEOUT="${TEST_TIMEOUT:-60s}"
 
 # failures-only: print failing tests + a final count, not one line per test.
 # Override with TEST_REPORTER=expanded when debugging. (T-242)
 REPORTER="${TEST_REPORTER:-failures-only}"
 
-# Run dart test in its own process group so we can kill descendants on
-# timeout. `setsid` starts a new session; `timeout --kill-after` SIGKILLs
-# after SIGTERM if the test ignores it.
 CORE_DIRS="test/ipc test/pty test/daemon test/git test/panes test/files test/editor test/pql"
 
-# Run a `dart test` pass under the hard timeout + process-group kill.
+# Run a `dart test` pass under the per-test timeout. set -e propagates a
+# failing pass (including a --timeout-induced failure) with dart's exit code.
 run_pass() {
-  if ! timeout --kill-after=5s "${TIMEOUT_SECONDS}s" \
-       setsid --wait dart test -r "$REPORTER" "$@" ; then
-    rc=$?
-    if [[ $rc -eq 124 ]]; then
-      echo "test-core: TIMEOUT — killing descendants" >&2
-      pkill -9 -f "dart test" 2>/dev/null || true
-      exit 1
-    fi
-    exit $rc
-  fi
+  dart test -r "$REPORTER" --timeout "$TEST_TIMEOUT" "$@"
 }
 
 # Some core tests must not share the parallel pool:
@@ -58,10 +51,10 @@ run_pass() {
 #     record_id migration.)
 # Run both in one --concurrency=1 pass (matching ci/test.sh's serial handling),
 # then everything else in parallel.
-echo "test-core: dart test (pty + serial; --concurrency=1)  (timeout ${TIMEOUT_SECONDS}s)"
+echo "test-core: dart test (pty + serial; --concurrency=1)  (timeout ${TEST_TIMEOUT})"
 run_pass --concurrency=1 --tags "pty || serial" $CORE_DIRS
 
-echo "test-core: dart test (rest; parallel, excludes pty + serial)  (timeout ${TIMEOUT_SECONDS}s)"
+echo "test-core: dart test (rest; parallel, excludes pty + serial)  (timeout ${TEST_TIMEOUT})"
 run_pass --exclude-tags "pty || serial" $CORE_DIRS
 
 echo "test-core: ok"