diff --git a/airflow-core/tests/unit/dag_processing/test_manager.py b/airflow-core/tests/unit/dag_processing/test_manager.py
index cbd13f4aaa397..0d48f7b1626b0 100644
--- a/airflow-core/tests/unit/dag_processing/test_manager.py
+++ b/airflow-core/tests/unit/dag_processing/test_manager.py
@@ -520,7 +520,9 @@ def test_scan_stale_dags(self, testing_dag_bundle):
 
     def test_kill_timed_out_processors_kill(self):
         manager = DagFileProcessorManager(max_runs=1, processor_timeout=5)
-        processor, _ = self.mock_processor(start_time=16000)
+        # Set start_time to ensure timeout occurs: start_time = current_time - (timeout + 1) = always (timeout + 1) seconds
+        start_time = time.monotonic() - manager.processor_timeout - 1
+        processor, _ = self.mock_processor(start_time=start_time)
         manager._processors = {
             DagFileInfo(
                 bundle_name="testing", rel_path=Path("abc.txt"), bundle_path=TEST_DAGS_FOLDER