diff --git a/repos/os/run/timeout.run b/repos/os/run/timeout.run
index 38262de208..462e55a7f1 100644
--- a/repos/os/run/timeout.run
+++ b/repos/os/run/timeout.run
@@ -3,17 +3,35 @@
 #
 
 #
-# Do not high precision time on ARM with kernels other than HW and on QEMU
+# Wether the platform allows for timeouts that trigger with a precision < 50 milliseconds
 #
-# On ARM, we do not have a component-local hardware time-source. The ARM
-# performance counter has no reliable frequency as the ARM idle command
-# halts the counter. Thus, we do not do local time interpolation on ARM.
-# Except we're on the HW kernel. In this case we can read out the kernel
-# time instead. On QEMU, the time emulation is not precise enough.
+proc precise_timeouts { } {
+
+	#
+	# On QEMU, NOVA uses the pretty unstable TSC emulation as primary time source.
+	#
+	if {[have_include "power_on/qemu"] && [have_spec nova]} { return false }
+	return true
+}
+
 #
-proc high_precision_time { } {
-	if {[get_cmd_switch --autopilot] && [have_include "power_on/qemu"]} { return false }
-	if {[expr [have_spec arm] && ![have_spec hw]]}                      { return false }
+# Wether the platform allows for a timestamp that has a precision < 1 millisecond
+#
+proc precise_time { } {
+
+	#
+	# On QEMU, timing is not stable enough for microseconds precision
+	#
+	if {[have_include "power_on/qemu"]} { return false }
+
+	#
+	# On ARM, we do not have a component-local time source in hardware. The ARM
+	# performance counter has no reliable frequency as the ARM idle command
+	# halts the counter. Thus, we do not use local time interpolation on ARM.
+	# Except we're on the HW kernel. In this case we can read out the kernel
+	# time instead.
+	#
+	if {[expr [have_spec arm] && ![have_spec hw]]} { return false }
 	return true
 }
 
@@ -48,7 +66,8 @@ append config {
 		<start name="test">
 			<binary name="test-timeout"/>
 			<resource name="RAM" quantum="250M"/>
-			<config high_precision_time="} [high_precision_time] {"/>
+			<config precise_time="} [precise_time] {"
+			        precise_timeouts="} [precise_timeouts] {"/>
 		</start>
 	</config>
 }
diff --git a/repos/os/src/test/timeout/main.cc b/repos/os/src/test/timeout/main.cc
index 3fc1883f5d..88936d3514 100644
--- a/repos/os/src/test/timeout/main.cc
+++ b/repos/os/src/test/timeout/main.cc
@@ -72,7 +72,6 @@ struct Mixed_timeouts : Test
 
 	enum { NR_OF_EVENTS   = 20 };
 	enum { NR_OF_TIMEOUTS = 4 };
-	enum { MAX_ERROR_PC   = 10 };
 
 	struct Timeout
 	{
@@ -126,8 +125,10 @@ struct Mixed_timeouts : Test
 		{ &timeouts[2], Duration(Milliseconds(6500)) }
 	};
 
-	Duration init_time { Microseconds(0) };
-	unsigned event_id  { 0 };
+	Duration      init_time    { Microseconds(0) };
+	unsigned      event_id     { 0 };
+	unsigned long max_error_us { config.xml().attribute_value("precise_timeouts", true) ?
+	                             50000UL : 200000UL };
 
 	Timer::Periodic_timeout<Mixed_timeouts> pt1 { timer, *this, &Mixed_timeouts::handle_pt1, timeouts[0].us };
 	Timer::Periodic_timeout<Mixed_timeouts> pt2 { timer, *this, &Mixed_timeouts::handle_pt2, timeouts[1].us };
@@ -157,14 +158,12 @@ struct Mixed_timeouts : Test
 		unsigned long error_us      = max(time_us, event_time_us) -
 		                              min(time_us, event_time_us);
 
-		float const error_pc = percentage(error_us, timeout.us.value);
-
 		log(time_us / 1000UL, " ms: ", timeout.name, " timeout triggered,"
-		    " error ", error_us, " us (", error_pc, " %)");
+		    " error ", error_us, " us (max ", max_error_us, " us)");
 
-		if (error_pc > MAX_ERROR_PC) {
+		if (error_us > max_error_us) {
 
-			error("absolute timeout error greater than ", (unsigned)MAX_ERROR_PC, " %");
+			error("absolute timeout error greater than ", (unsigned long)max_error_us, " us");
 			error_cnt++;
 		}
 		if (event.timeout && event.timeout != &timeout) {
@@ -546,10 +545,10 @@ struct Fast_polling : Test
 		main_ep(env, STACK_SIZE, "fast_polling_ep"),
 		main_handler(main_ep, *this, &Fast_polling::main)
 	{
-		if (config.xml().attribute_value("high_precision_time", true)) {
+		if (config.xml().attribute_value("precise_time", true)) {
 			Signal_transmitter(main_handler).submit();
 		} else {
-			log("... skip test because it requires high precision time");
+			log("... skip test, requires the platform to support precise time");
 			Test::done.submit();
 		}
 	}