diff --git a/crates/engine/src/cmd/pivot.rs b/crates/engine/src/cmd/pivot.rs
index 4f9dae5..27e0aab 100644
--- a/crates/engine/src/cmd/pivot.rs
+++ b/crates/engine/src/cmd/pivot.rs
@@ -1626,21 +1626,18 @@ mod tests {
         let mut s = Session::new();
         s.new_workbook();
         let mut header = vec![json!("a"), json!("A"), json!("a"), json!("a2")];
-        // Thousands of equal headers (a row of check boxes, say) used to take cubic time.
+        // Thousands of equal headers (a row of check boxes, say) used to take cubic time; this would
+        // hang rather than fail a wall-clock check, which is flaky on a loaded machine.
         header.extend((0..3000).map(|_| json!("x")));
         let data: Vec<_> = (0..header.len()).map(|i| json!(i)).collect();
         let end = CellRef::new(1, header.len() as u32 - 1).a1();
         s.execute("range.setValues", json!({"range": "A1", "values": [header, data]})).unwrap();
-        let t = std::time::Instant::now();
         let src = crate::pivot::read_source(&s.doc().unwrap().wb, &format!("Sheet1!A1:{end}"), 0).unwrap();
-        assert!(t.elapsed().as_secs_f64() < 2.0, "took {:?}", t.elapsed());
         assert_eq!(&src.headers[..4], ["a", "A2", "a3", "a22"]);
         assert_eq!(src.headers[4], "x");
         assert_eq!(src.headers.last().map(String::as_str), Some("x3000"));
         // Table column names follow the same rule.
-        let t = std::time::Instant::now();
         s.execute("insert.table", json!({"range": format!("A1:{end}"), "header": true})).unwrap();
-        assert!(t.elapsed().as_secs_f64() < 2.0, "took {:?}", t.elapsed());
         let text = |s: &mut Session, a: &str| s.execute("cell.get", json!({"cell": a})).unwrap()["text"].clone();
         assert_eq!(text(&mut s, "B1"), "A2");
         let last = CellRef::new(0, 3003).a1();