diff --git a/Lib/test/regrtest.py b/Lib/test/regrtest.py
--- a/Lib/test/regrtest.py
+++ b/Lib/test/regrtest.py
@@ -421,6 +421,9 @@ def main(tests=None, testdir=None, verbo
     if use_mp and findleaks:
         usage("-l and -j don't go together!")
 
+    # set the global timeout of a single test
+    support.TIMEOUT = timeout
+
     good = []
     bad = []
     skipped = []
@@ -647,7 +650,7 @@ def main(tests=None, testdir=None, verbo
             else:
                 try:
                     result = runtest(test, verbose, quiet, huntrleaks, debug,
-                                     rerun_failed=verbose3, timeout=timeout)
+                                     rerun_failed=verbose3)
                     accumulate_result(test, result)
                 except KeyboardInterrupt:
                     interrupted = True
@@ -794,7 +797,7 @@ def replace_stdout():
 
 def runtest(test, verbose, quiet,
             huntrleaks=False, debug=False, use_resources=None,
-            rerun_failed=False, timeout=None):
+            rerun_failed=False):
     """Run a single test.
 
     test -- the name of the test
@@ -804,8 +807,6 @@ def runtest(test, verbose, quiet,
     huntrleaks -- run multiple times to test for leaks; requires a debug
                   build; a triple corresponding to -R's three arguments
     rerun_failed -- if true, re-run in verbose mode when failed
-    timeout -- dump the traceback and exit if a test takes more than
-               timeout seconds
 
     Returns one of the test result constants:
         INTERRUPTED      KeyboardInterrupt when run under -j
@@ -819,9 +820,6 @@ def runtest(test, verbose, quiet,
     support.verbose = verbose  # Tell tests to be moderately quiet
     if use_resources is not None:
         support.use_resources = use_resources
-    use_timeout = (timeout is not None and timeout > 0)
-    if use_timeout:
-        faulthandler.dump_tracebacks_later(timeout, exit=True)
     try:
         result = runtest_inner(test, verbose, quiet, huntrleaks, debug)
         if result[0] == FAILED and rerun_failed:
@@ -829,11 +827,9 @@ def runtest(test, verbose, quiet,
             sys.stdout.flush()
             sys.stderr.flush()
             print("Re-running test {} in verbose mode".format(test))
-            runtest(test, True, quiet, huntrleaks, debug, timeout=timeout)
+            runtest(test, True, quiet, huntrleaks, debug)
         return result
     finally:
-        if use_timeout:
-            faulthandler.cancel_dump_tracebacks_later()
         cleanup_test_droppings(test, verbose)
 
 # Unit tests are supposed to leave the execution environment unchanged
diff --git a/Lib/test/support.py b/Lib/test/support.py
--- a/Lib/test/support.py
+++ b/Lib/test/support.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ if __name__ != 'test.support':
 
 import contextlib
 import errno
+import faulthandler
 import functools
 import gc
 import socket
@@ -45,6 +46,9 @@ __all__ = [
     "swap_item", "swap_attr", "requires_IEEE_754",
     "TestHandler", "Matcher", "can_symlink", "skip_unless_symlink"]
 
+# Timeout in seconds of a single test used by run_unittest()
+TIMEOUT = None
+
 
 class Error(Exception):
     """Base class for regression test exceptions."""
@@ -1073,8 +1077,14 @@ def bigaddrspacetest(f):
 # unittest integration.
 
 class BasicTestRunner:
+    resultclass = unittest.TestResult
+
+    def __init__(self, resultclass=None):
+        if resultclass is not None:
+            self.resultclass = resultclass
+
     def run(self, test):
-        result = unittest.TestResult()
+        result = self.resultclass()
         test(result)
         return result
 
@@ -1159,9 +1169,31 @@ def refcount_test(test):
 def _run_suite(suite):
     """Run tests from a unittest.TestSuite-derived class."""
     if verbose:
-        runner = unittest.TextTestRunner(sys.stdout, verbosity=2)
+        result_base_class = unittest.TextTestRunner.resultclass
     else:
-        runner = BasicTestRunner()
+        result_base_class = BasicTestRunner.resultclass
+
+    class Result(result_base_class):
+        def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
+            result_base_class.__init__(self, *args, **kw)
+            self.timeout = TIMEOUT
+            self.use_timeout = (self.timeout is not None and self.timeout > 0)
+
+        def startTest(self, test):
+            result_base_class.startTest(self, test)
+            if self.use_timeout:
+                faulthandler.dump_tracebacks_later(self.timeout, exit=True)
+
+        def stopTest(self, test):
+            if self.use_timeout:
+                faulthandler.cancel_dump_tracebacks_later()
+            result_base_class.stopTest(self, test)
+
+    if verbose:
+        runner = unittest.TextTestRunner(sys.stdout, verbosity=2,
+                                         resultclass=Result)
+    else:
+        runner = BasicTestRunner(resultclass=Result)
 
     result = runner.run(suite)
     if not result.wasSuccessful():