diff --git a/src/app/TimedHandler.cpp b/src/app/TimedHandler.cpp
index ae71dcbc03d8ef..52400bce8feb71 100644
--- a/src/app/TimedHandler.cpp
+++ b/src/app/TimedHandler.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "TimedHandler.h"
+#include <app/InteractionModelDelegate.h>
 #include <app/InteractionModelEngine.h>
 #include <app/MessageDef/TimedRequestMessage.h>
 #include <app/StatusResponse.h>
@@ -122,10 +123,13 @@ CHIP_ERROR TimedHandler::HandleTimedRequestAction(Messaging::ExchangeContext * a
 
     ChipLogDetail(DataManagement, "Got Timed Request with timeout %" PRIu16 ": handler %p exchange " ChipLogFormatExchange,
                   timeoutMs, this, ChipLogValueExchange(aExchangeContext));
-    // Tell the exchange to close after the timeout passes, so we don't get
-    // stuck waiting forever if the client never sends another message.
+    // Use at least our default IM timeout, because if we close our exchange as
+    // soon as we know the delay has passed we won't be able to send the
+    // UNSUPPORTED_ACCESS status code the spec tells us to send (and in fact
+    // will send nothing and the other side will have to time out to realize
+    // it's missed its window).
     auto delay = System::Clock::Milliseconds32(timeoutMs);
-    aExchangeContext->SetResponseTimeout(delay);
+    aExchangeContext->SetResponseTimeout(std::max(delay, kImMessageTimeout));
     ReturnErrorOnFailure(StatusResponse::Send(Status::Success, aExchangeContext, /* aExpectResponse = */ true));
 
     // Now just wait for the client.
diff --git a/src/app/tests/TestTimedHandler.cpp b/src/app/tests/TestTimedHandler.cpp
index cf6dfd9c775945..63d7f1958f42e7 100644
--- a/src/app/tests/TestTimedHandler.cpp
+++ b/src/app/tests/TestTimedHandler.cpp
@@ -124,6 +124,8 @@ void TestTimedHandler::TestFollowingMessageFastEnough(nlTestSuite * aSuite, void
 
     CHIP_ERROR err = exchange->SendMessage(MsgType::TimedRequest, std::move(payload), SendMessageFlags::kExpectResponse);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, err == CHIP_NO_ERROR);
+
+    ctx.DrainAndServiceIO();
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mNewMessageReceived);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mLastMessageWasStatus);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mStatus.mStatus == Status::Success);
@@ -136,8 +138,10 @@ void TestTimedHandler::TestFollowingMessageFastEnough(nlTestSuite * aSuite, void
     delegate.mKeepExchangeOpen   = false;
     delegate.mNewMessageReceived = false;
 
-    err = exchange->SendMessage(aMsgType, std::move(payload));
+    err = exchange->SendMessage(aMsgType, std::move(payload), SendMessageFlags::kExpectResponse);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, err == CHIP_NO_ERROR);
+
+    ctx.DrainAndServiceIO();
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mNewMessageReceived);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mLastMessageWasStatus);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mStatus.mStatus != Status::UnsupportedAccess);
@@ -170,6 +174,8 @@ void TestTimedHandler::TestFollowingMessageTooSlow(nlTestSuite * aSuite, void *
 
     CHIP_ERROR err = exchange->SendMessage(MsgType::TimedRequest, std::move(payload), SendMessageFlags::kExpectResponse);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, err == CHIP_NO_ERROR);
+
+    ctx.DrainAndServiceIO();
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mNewMessageReceived);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mLastMessageWasStatus);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mStatus.mStatus == Status::Success);
@@ -185,8 +191,10 @@ void TestTimedHandler::TestFollowingMessageTooSlow(nlTestSuite * aSuite, void *
     delegate.mKeepExchangeOpen   = false;
     delegate.mNewMessageReceived = false;
 
-    err = exchange->SendMessage(aMsgType, std::move(payload));
+    err = exchange->SendMessage(aMsgType, std::move(payload), SendMessageFlags::kExpectResponse);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, err == CHIP_NO_ERROR);
+
+    ctx.DrainAndServiceIO();
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mNewMessageReceived);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mLastMessageWasStatus);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mStatus.mStatus == Status::UnsupportedAccess);
@@ -217,6 +225,8 @@ void TestTimedHandler::TestInvokeNeverComes(nlTestSuite * aSuite, void * aContex
 
     CHIP_ERROR err = exchange->SendMessage(MsgType::TimedRequest, std::move(payload), SendMessageFlags::kExpectResponse);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, err == CHIP_NO_ERROR);
+
+    ctx.DrainAndServiceIO();
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mNewMessageReceived);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mLastMessageWasStatus);
     NL_TEST_ASSERT(aSuite, delegate.mStatus.mStatus == Status::Success);
@@ -249,7 +259,7 @@ nlTestSuite sSuite =
 {
     "TestTimedHandler",
     &sTests[0],
-    TestContext::Initialize,
+    TestContext::InitializeAsync,
     TestContext::Finalize
 };
 // clang-format on