diff --git a/custom_components/nestquest/api_client.py b/custom_components/nestquest/api_client.py
index 5f30d44..71fa309 100644
--- a/custom_components/nestquest/api_client.py
+++ b/custom_components/nestquest/api_client.py
@@ -16,9 +16,11 @@ network and NO aiohttp installed; production builds the client through
 :func:`client_from_entry`, which hands in Home Assistant's shared
 aiohttp session (``homeassistant.helpers.aiohttp_client
 .async_get_clientsession``).  The module itself imports NEITHER
-homeassistant NOR aiohttp at runtime (aiohttp appears only behind
-``TYPE_CHECKING`` for annotations), so the client is usable anywhere —
-the HA coupling lives in the one production factory.
+homeassistant NOR aiohttp at module import (aiohttp appears only
+behind ``TYPE_CHECKING`` for annotations, plus one lazy import inside
+:meth:`NestQuestApiClient.stream_events` for its ``ClientTimeout``), so
+the client is importable anywhere — the HA coupling lives in the one
+production factory.
 
 Every failure is typed: a transport failure (connection refused, DNS
 failure, timeout — the exchange never produced a response) and every
@@ -38,7 +40,11 @@ frame (``event: <type>`` / ``data: <json>`` lines separated by a blank
 line).  Opening the stream gets the same one-timeout, typed-error
 contract as every other call; reading it has NO body-wide timeout (a
 healthy stream is long-lived — the subscription manager owns
-reconnection and backoff).
+reconnection and backoff).  That includes the session's own default:
+Home Assistant's shared session carries ``ClientTimeout(total=300)``,
+which would cut a healthy stream every five minutes, so the stream
+request overrides it with ``total=None`` (keeping a finite
+``sock_connect``).
 """
 from __future__ import annotations
 
@@ -278,8 +284,19 @@ class NestQuestApiClient:
         (``aclose``, i.e. the consumer's task being cancelled) stops
         cleanly and closes the underlying response in every path.
         """
+        # Lazy: aiohttp ships with Home Assistant, but importing it at
+        # module level would make the client unimportable without it.
+        import aiohttp
+
         url = f"{self._base_url}{EVENTS_PATH}"
         headers = self._headers()
+        # The session's default total timeout (HA's shared session:
+        # 300 s) would cut a healthy stream mid-body, and events fired
+        # while reconnecting are not replayed — so the stream request
+        # is unbounded in total time; only connecting stays bounded.
+        stream_timeout = aiohttp.ClientTimeout(
+            total=None, sock_connect=self._timeout_seconds
+        )
         # Opening the response gets ONE request timeout, exactly like
         # ``_request_json``; the read loop below runs WITHOUT one — a
         # body-wide timeout would kill a healthy long-lived stream.
@@ -289,7 +306,7 @@ class NestQuestApiClient:
         try:
             async with asyncio.timeout(self._timeout_seconds):
                 stream_cm = self._session.request(
-                    "GET", url, headers=headers, json=None
+                    "GET", url, headers=headers, json=None, timeout=stream_timeout
                 )
                 response = await stream_cm.__aenter__()
         except asyncio.CancelledError:
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 4ff6a74..f938f38 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -879,6 +879,29 @@ def set_coordinator_client(entry, client):
     return client
 
 
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class FakeClientTimeout:
+    """Stand-in for ``aiohttp.ClientTimeout`` (the fields the client sets)."""
+
+    total: float | None = None
+    sock_connect: float | None = None
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def fake_aiohttp(monkeypatch):
+    """Install a stand-in ``aiohttp`` module for one test.
+
+    aiohttp ships only with Home Assistant, so this mock-only harness
+    does not have it; the API client imports it lazily inside
+    ``stream_events`` (for ``ClientTimeout``).  Tests driving the real
+    stream path request this fixture; the module is removed again when
+    the test ends.
+    """
+    module = SimpleNamespace(ClientTimeout=FakeClientTimeout)
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, "aiohttp", module)
+    return module
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
 def coordinator_client_from_test_override():
     """Resolve every entry's coordinator client through the test seam.
diff --git a/tests/test_api_client.py b/tests/test_api_client.py
index 3082158..5a4016c 100644
--- a/tests/test_api_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_api_client.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import types
 
 import pytest
 
-from conftest import make_config_entry
+from conftest import FakeClientTimeout, make_config_entry
 
 from custom_components.nestquest import api_client
 from custom_components.nestquest.api_client import (
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ from custom_components.nestquest.const import (
     DEFAULT_PANEL_TOKEN,
 )
 
+# ``stream_events`` imports aiohttp lazily; the harness has none, so
+# every test here runs with the stand-in module installed.
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.usefixtures("fake_aiohttp")
+
 BASE_URL = "http://api.test:8000"
 TOKEN = "test-panel-token"
 
@@ -124,6 +128,7 @@ class StubTransport:
                 "url": url,
                 "headers": kwargs.get("headers"),
                 "json": kwargs.get("json"),
+                "timeout": kwargs.get("timeout"),
             }
         )
         if not self._outcomes:
@@ -557,3 +562,24 @@ async def test_stream_events_invalid_json_frame_raises_typed() -> None:
     assert excinfo.value.status == 200
     assert not excinfo.value.is_transport_error
     assert isinstance(excinfo.value.__cause__, ValueError)
+
+
+async def test_stream_events_disables_the_session_total_timeout() -> None:
+    """The stream request overrides the session's default total timeout
+    (HA's shared session: 300 s, which would cut a healthy stream) with
+    ``total=None`` while keeping a finite connect timeout; the plain
+    request calls pass no per-request timeout."""
+    transport = StubTransport(
+        StubStreamResponse(200, []), StubResponse(200, json.dumps(SNAPSHOT_PAYLOAD))
+    )
+    client = make_client(transport, timeout_seconds=7.0)
+
+    frames = [frame async for frame in client.stream_events()]
+    await client.get_snapshot()
+
+    assert frames == []
+    stream_timeout = transport.calls[0]["timeout"]
+    assert isinstance(stream_timeout, FakeClientTimeout)
+    assert stream_timeout.total is None
+    assert stream_timeout.sock_connect == 7.0
+    assert transport.calls[1]["timeout"] is None
diff --git a/tests/test_sse_subscription.py b/tests/test_sse_subscription.py
index a07069f..6b0e458 100644
--- a/tests/test_sse_subscription.py
+++ b/tests/test_sse_subscription.py
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ from custom_components.nestquest.api_client import (
 )
 from custom_components.nestquest.sse import NestQuestEventStream
 
+# ``stream_events`` imports aiohttp lazily; the harness has none, so
+# every test here runs with the stand-in module installed.
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.usefixtures("fake_aiohttp")
+
 BASE_URL = "http://api.test:8000"
 TOKEN = "test-panel-token"