diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index a19fbfe..25174a8 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ export function loadConfig() {
     retentionHours: Number(process.env.RETENTION_HOURS ?? 1),
     workerPollIntervalMs: Number(process.env.WORKER_POLL_INTERVAL_MS ?? 1500),
     workerConcurrency: Number(process.env.WORKER_CONCURRENCY ?? 3),
+    ebookJobTimeoutMs: Number(process.env.EBOOK_JOB_TIMEOUT_MS ?? 180000),
     rateLimitMaxJobs: Number(process.env.RATE_LIMIT_MAX_JOBS ?? 20),
     rateLimitWindowMinutes: Number(process.env.RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MINUTES ?? 10),
   };
diff --git a/test/config.test.js b/test/config.test.js
index eb1d5d2..fc8df86 100644
--- a/test/config.test.js
+++ b/test/config.test.js
@@ -49,6 +49,20 @@ describe('loadConfig', () => {
     expect(config.workerConcurrency).toBe(3);
   });
 
+  it('defaults ebookJobTimeoutMs to 180000ms and reads EBOOK_JOB_TIMEOUT_MS when set', () => {
+    process.env.STORAGE_DIR = './storage';
+    process.env.DB_HOST = 'localhost';
+    process.env.DB_USER = 'user';
+    process.env.DB_PASSWORD = 'pass';
+    process.env.DB_NAME = 'db';
+    delete process.env.EBOOK_JOB_TIMEOUT_MS;
+
+    expect(loadConfig().ebookJobTimeoutMs).toBe(180000);
+
+    process.env.EBOOK_JOB_TIMEOUT_MS = '240000';
+    expect(loadConfig().ebookJobTimeoutMs).toBe(240000);
+  });
+
   it('throws listing every missing required variable', () => {
     for (const key of REQUIRED_VARS) delete process.env[key];