@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import sysconfig
 import select
 import shutil
+import socket
 import threading
 import gc
 import textwrap
@@ -1044,19 +1045,49 @@ def test_communicate_timeout_large_input(self):
         # On Windows, stdin writing must also honor the timeout rather than
         # blocking indefinitely when the pipe buffer fills.
 
-        # Input larger than typical pipe buffer (4-64KB on Windows)
-        input_data = b"x" * (128 * 1024)
+        input_data = b"x" * (128 * 1024)  # > typical pipe buffer
+
+        # Cross-platform wake mechanism: the slow reader connects to a
+        # loopback TCP socket and blocks in select() on it (capped at 9s
+        # as a safety net we don't expect to hit). After phase 1 raises
+        # TimeoutExpired, the parent sends a byte to release the child so
+        # it drains stdin. A socket (rather than a raw pipe) is required
+        # because Windows select() only supports sockets, not arbitrary
+        # file descriptors.
+        server = socket.create_server(('127.0.0.1', 0), backlog=1)
+        server.settimeout(10)  # bound the accept() if the child fails to start
+        port = server.getsockname()[1]
+        # The child sends one byte (low byte of its PID) first so the parent
+        # can detect the rare case of an unrelated process on the same host
+        # connecting to our ephemeral port before our child does. A single
+        # byte gives 1/256 collision odds, which is plenty for flake-prevention.
+        slow_reader = (
+            "import os, socket, sys, select; "
+            f"s = socket.create_connection(('127.0.0.1', {port}), timeout=9); "
+            "s.sendall(bytes([os.getpid() & 0xff])); "
+            "select.select([s], [], [], 9); "
+            "sys.stdout.buffer.write(sys.stdin.buffer.read())"
+        )
 
         p = subprocess.Popen(
-            [sys.executable, "-c",
-             "import sys, time; "
-             "time.sleep(30); "  # Don't read stdin for a long time
-             "sys.stdout.buffer.write(sys.stdin.buffer.read())"],
+            [sys.executable, "-c", slow_reader],
             stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
             stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
             stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
 
+        conn = None
         try:
+            conn, _ = server.accept()
+            server.close()
+            server = None
+
+            conn.settimeout(5)
+            peer_byte = conn.recv(1)
+            conn.settimeout(None)
+            self.assertEqual(peer_byte, bytes([p.pid & 0xff]),
+                f"loopback handshake byte {peer_byte!r} != "
+                f"low byte of child PID {p.pid} ({p.pid & 0xff:#x})")
+
             timeout = 0.2
             start = time.monotonic()
             try:
@@ -1065,19 +1096,24 @@ def test_communicate_timeout_large_input(self):
                 elapsed = time.monotonic() - start
                 self.fail(
                     f"TimeoutExpired not raised. communicate() completed in "
-                    f"{elapsed:.2f}s, but subprocess sleeps for 30s. "
+                    f"{elapsed:.2f}s, but slow reader stalls for up to 9s. "
                     "Stdin writing blocked without enforcing timeout.")
             except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
                 elapsed = time.monotonic() - start
 
             # Timeout should occur close to the specified timeout value,
             # not after waiting for the subprocess to finish sleeping.
             # Allow generous margin for slow CI, but must be well under
-            # the subprocess sleep time.
+            # the slow-reader's stall cap.
             self.assertLess(elapsed, 5.0,
                 f"TimeoutExpired raised after {elapsed:.2f}s; expected ~{timeout}s. "
                 "Stdin writing blocked without checking timeout.")
 
+            # Release the slow reader so it stops blocking and drains stdin.
+            conn.sendall(b'go')
+            conn.close()
+            conn = None
+
             # After timeout, continue communication. The remaining input
             # should be sent and we should receive all data back.
             stdout, stderr = p.communicate()
@@ -1087,6 +1123,10 @@ def test_communicate_timeout_large_input(self):
                 f"Expected {len(input_data)} bytes output but got {len(stdout)}")
             self.assertEqual(stdout, input_data)
         finally:
+            if conn is not None:
+                conn.close()
+            if server is not None:
+                server.close()
             p.kill()
             p.wait()