diff --git a/.github/workflows/gc-root-dominance.yml b/.github/workflows/gc-root-dominance.yml
index aeb2b0c1a6..ba602980c6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gc-root-dominance.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gc-root-dominance.yml
@@ -788,6 +788,9 @@ jobs:
       # filter. `|| true` is deliberate and is the ONLY one in this file —
       # this step is not a gate and must not be read as one.
       - name: Unfiltered hazard census (diagnostic, not a gate)
+        # Keep this diagnostic within the remaining job budget after the
+        # required checks; its timeout must not cancel successful gates.
+        timeout-minutes: 5
         # The explicit opt-out `gc_gate_wiring_check.py` looks for. Without it
         # that gate reads the `|| true` below as a swallowed failure -- which
         # is exactly right for a gating step and exactly wrong for this one, so
diff --git a/changelog.d/11742-bounded-statepoints-census.md b/changelog.d/11742-bounded-statepoints-census.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cfcd9d8d43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/11742-bounded-statepoints-census.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Bound the non-gating statepoints hazard census to five minutes so it cannot consume the remaining job budget after required root checks succeed. Required checker coverage and failure thresholds are unchanged.