diff --git a/buildbot/validation_pool.py b/buildbot/validation_pool.py
index 60d06d1..cd84df5 100644
--- a/buildbot/validation_pool.py
+++ b/buildbot/validation_pool.py
@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@
 CQ = 'cq'
 
 # The gerrit-on-borg team tells us that delays up to 2 minutes can be
-# normal.  Setting timeout to 8 minutes to be safe-ish.
-SUBMITTED_WAIT_TIMEOUT = 8 * 60 # Time in seconds.
+# normal.  Setting timeout to 3 minutes to be safe-ish.
+SUBMITTED_WAIT_TIMEOUT = 3 * 60 # Time in seconds.
 
 class TreeIsClosedException(Exception):
   """Raised when the tree is closed and we wanted to submit changes."""