diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/tts/piper.py b/src/calibre/gui2/tts/piper.py
index 4138337c8f..3033ba6e92 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/tts/piper.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/tts/piper.py
@@ -658,7 +658,7 @@ class PiperEmbedded:
 
 class PipeReader:
 
-    TIMEOUT = 10.  # seconds
+    TIMEOUT = 30.  # seconds
 
     def __init__(self, stdout: BinaryIO, stderr: BinaryIO):
         self.stdout_fd = stdout.fileno()