diff --git a/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture-staticDedupVerifyDensity.test.ts b/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture-staticDedupVerifyDensity.test.ts
index fcdc540dd52..256e858cb2b 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture-staticDedupVerifyDensity.test.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture-staticDedupVerifyDensity.test.ts
@@ -135,8 +135,8 @@ describe("verifyStaticFramesSafe catches drift the old fixed-point density would
 
     expect(result.outcome).toBe("time_budget");
     expect(result.verifiedFrames.size).toBe(0);
-    // 8 s shots: the 300 s ceiling, not the 15 s floor, ends it
-    expect(pageScreenshotCapture).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(38);
+    // 8 s shots: the 60 s ceiling, not the 15 s floor, ends it
+    expect(pageScreenshotCapture).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(8);
   });
 });
 
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ describe("composition-wide static verification planner", () => {
       {
         now: () => nowMs,
         capture: async () => {
-          nowMs += 1_000;
+          nowMs += 500;
           return Buffer.from("same");
         },
       },
diff --git a/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture.ts b/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture.ts
index 880a13e18eb..82e82b4d1b9 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/services/frameCapture.ts
@@ -3929,12 +3929,12 @@ export async function computeStaticFrameSet(
 const STATIC_VERIFY_REFERENCE_STRIDE = 24;
 
 // Wall budget for verification: 15 s is the floor; above it the budget is 1.5x
-// planned shots x the first shot's seek+capture time, capped at 300 s (nothing
-// was gained past 600 s on a 4K job). Exhaustion fails closed: dedup is
-// disabled for the unverified runs and normal capture proceeds.
+// planned shots x the first shot's seek+capture time, capped at 60 s so it ends before
+// the producer's 300 s first-frame stall that every worker's verification runs inside.
+// Exhaustion fails closed: dedup is disabled for unverified runs and capture proceeds.
 const STATIC_VERIFY_MAX_MS = 15_000;
 const STATIC_VERIFY_HEADROOM = 1.5;
-const STATIC_VERIFY_CEILING_MS = 300_000;
+const STATIC_VERIFY_CEILING_MS = 60_000;
 // Two captures (anchor + comparison) are the minimum proof for a run. Four hundred
 // therefore permits 200 fully verified runs while bounding pathological schedules.
 const STATIC_VERIFY_MIN_SCREENSHOT_CAP = 400;