diff --git a/scripts/systemd/changemaker-upgrade.service b/scripts/systemd/changemaker-upgrade.service
index 6f3915c6..effc9ecb 100644
--- a/scripts/systemd/changemaker-upgrade.service
+++ b/scripts/systemd/changemaker-upgrade.service
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ User=__USER__
 Group=__USER__
 WorkingDirectory=__PROJECT_DIR__
 ExecStart=__PROJECT_DIR__/scripts/upgrade-watcher.sh
-TimeoutStartSec=900
+# Gitea registry pulls over the Pangolin tunnel can take 20+ minutes on a
+# cold cache; 15min was not enough and killed upgrade.sh mid Phase 4.
+TimeoutStartSec=3600
 StandardOutput=journal
 StandardError=journal