diff --git a/internal/manager/timeout_checker/timeout_checker_test.go b/internal/manager/timeout_checker/timeout_checker_test.go
index c3a5f2b3..94d68ab6 100644
--- a/internal/manager/timeout_checker/timeout_checker_test.go
+++ b/internal/manager/timeout_checker/timeout_checker_test.go
@@ -82,6 +82,13 @@ func TestTimeoutCheckerTiming(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestTaskTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+	// Canary test: if these constants do not have the expected value, the test
+	// will fail rather cryptically.
+	if !assert.Equal(t, 5*time.Minute, timeoutInitialSleep, "timeoutInitialSleep does not have the expected value") ||
+		!assert.Equal(t, 1*time.Minute, timeoutCheckInterval, "timeoutCheckInterval does not have the expected value") {
+		t.FailNow()
+	}
+
 	ttc, finish, mocks := timeoutCheckerTestFixtures(t)
 	defer finish()