diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml
index 6cf1e63..06d1ad5 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ jobs:
 
           # Try host Docker socket (DooD) if runner mounts it
           if [ -S /var/run/docker.sock ]; then
-            if DOCKER_HOST=unix:///var/run/docker.sock docker info >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            if DOCKER_HOST=unix:///var/run/docker.sock timeout 30 docker info >/dev/null 2>&1; then
               echo "Docker available via host socket."
               echo "DOCKER_HOST=unix:///var/run/docker.sock" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
               exit 0
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ jobs:
         # prune(maxUsedSpace) also reclaims named cache volumes (gradle-cache, go-build-cache, etc.)
         # when total cache exceeds the limit; without args only unreferenced entries are removed.
         run: |
-          dagger query '{ engine { localCache { prune(maxUsedSpace: "75gb", targetSpace: "50gb") } } }' || true
+          timeout 120 dagger query '{ engine { localCache { prune(maxUsedSpace: "75gb", targetSpace: "50gb") } } }' || true
 
       - name: Run Full Check Suite
         env:
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           DAGGER_NO_NAG: "1"
         run: |
-          dagger query '{ engine { localCache { prune(maxUsedSpace: "75gb", targetSpace: "50gb") } } }' || true
+          timeout 120 dagger query '{ engine { localCache { prune(maxUsedSpace: "75gb", targetSpace: "50gb") } } }' || true
 
       - name: Cleanup TLS credentials
         if: always()
diff --git a/Taskfile.yml b/Taskfile.yml
index 9a6c594..885e433 100644
--- a/Taskfile.yml
+++ b/Taskfile.yml
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ tasks:
               echo "$(_ts) dagger: network error on attempt $attempt/3, retrying..." >&2
             elif [ "$attempt" -lt 3 ] && grep -q "No space left on device" "$DAGGER_OUT"; then
               echo "$(_ts) dagger: disk space error on attempt $attempt/3, pruning Dagger cache..." >&2
-              dagger query '{ engine { localCache { prune(targetSpace: "20gb") } } }' 2>/dev/null || true
+              timeout 120 dagger query '{ engine { localCache { prune(targetSpace: "20gb") } } }' 2>/dev/null || true
               echo "$(_ts) dagger: waiting 90s for freed space to settle..." >&2
               sleep 90
             else
@@ -319,7 +319,16 @@ tasks:
           rm -f "$PORTFILE" "$DAGGER_OUT" "$RC_FILE"
         }
         trap cleanup EXIT
-        until [ -s "$PORTFILE" ]; do sleep 0.05; done
+        until [ -s "$PORTFILE" ]; do
+          sleep 0.05
+          if ! kill -0 "$RECV_PID" 2>/dev/null; then
+            echo "$(_ts) otel-receiver.py died before writing port file; falling back to plain run" >&2
+            retry_dagger dagger call --progress=plain -q -m ci --source=. check
+            RC=$?
+            rm -f "$PORTFILE" "$DAGGER_OUT" "$RC_FILE"
+            exit $RC
+          fi
+        done
         PORT=$(cat "$PORTFILE")
         retry_dagger env \
           OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT="http://127.0.0.1:$PORT" \
diff --git a/scripts/setup_dagger_remote.sh b/scripts/setup_dagger_remote.sh
index 9435bcf..2506487 100755
--- a/scripts/setup_dagger_remote.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup_dagger_remote.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ for attempt in $(seq 1 $MAX_PROBE_ATTEMPTS); do
     fi
     if [ "$attempt" -eq "$MAX_PROBE_ATTEMPTS" ]; then
         echo "Warning: No Dagger server responded on $host:$port after $MAX_PROBE_ATTEMPTS attempts"
-        if ! docker info >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        if ! timeout 30 docker info >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             echo "Error: Remote Dagger engine is unavailable AND local Docker daemon is not running."
             echo "Cannot proceed. Ensure either the remote server at $host:$port is accessible"
             echo "or that Docker is running locally (check: sudo systemctl start docker)."