diff --git a/test/meson.build b/test/meson.build
index 189e1428485a..8b6057d4e800 100644
--- a/test/meson.build
+++ b/test/meson.build
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ internal_tests = [
     {'name': 'signal-threads', 'sources': ['signal-threads.cpp']},
     {'name': 'threads', 'sources': 'threads.cpp', 'dependencies': [libthreads]},
     {'name': 'timer', 'sources': ['timer.cpp']},
+    {'name': 'timer-fail', 'sources': ['timer-fail.cpp'], 'should_fail': true},
     {'name': 'timer-thread', 'sources': ['timer-thread.cpp']},
     {'name': 'unique-fd', 'sources': ['unique-fd.cpp']},
     {'name': 'utils', 'sources': ['utils.cpp']},
@@ -91,7 +92,7 @@ foreach test : public_tests
                      link_with : test_libraries,
                      include_directories : test_includes_public)
 
-    test(test['name'], exe)
+    test(test['name'], exe, should_fail : test.get('should_fail', false))
 endforeach
 
 foreach test : internal_tests
@@ -105,7 +106,7 @@ foreach test : internal_tests
                      link_with : test_libraries,
                      include_directories : test_includes_internal)
 
-    test(test['name'], exe)
+    test(test['name'], exe, should_fail : test.get('should_fail', false))
 endforeach
 
 foreach test : internal_non_parallel_tests
@@ -119,5 +120,7 @@ foreach test : internal_non_parallel_tests
                      link_with : test_libraries,
                      include_directories : test_includes_internal)
 
-    test(test['name'], exe, is_parallel : false)
+    test(test['name'], exe,
+         is_parallel : false,
+         should_fail : test.get('should_fail', false))
 endforeach
diff --git a/test/timer-fail.cpp b/test/timer-fail.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e9a3b1b61bcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/timer-fail.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later */
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2024, Ideas on Board Oy
+ *
+ * timer-fail.cpp - Threaded timer failure test
+ */
+
+#include <chrono>
+#include <iostream>
+
+#include <libcamera/base/event_dispatcher.h>
+#include <libcamera/base/object.h>
+#include <libcamera/base/thread.h>
+#include <libcamera/base/timer.h>
+
+#include "test.h"
+
+using namespace libcamera;
+using namespace std;
+using namespace std::chrono_literals;
+
+class TimeoutHandler : public Object
+{
+public:
+	TimeoutHandler()
+		: timer_(this), timeout_(false)
+	{
+		timer_.timeout.connect(this, &TimeoutHandler::timeoutHandler);
+	}
+
+	void start()
+	{
+		timer_.start(100ms);
+	}
+
+	bool timeout() const
+	{
+		return timeout_;
+	}
+
+private:
+	void timeoutHandler()
+	{
+		timeout_ = true;
+	}
+
+	Timer timer_;
+	bool timeout_;
+};
+
+class TimerFailTest : public Test
+{
+protected:
+	int init()
+	{
+		thread_.start();
+		timeout_.moveToThread(&thread_);
+
+		return TestPass;
+	}
+
+	int run()
+	{
+		/*
+		 * Test that the forbidden operation of starting the timer from
+		 * another thread results in a failure. We need to interrupt the
+		 * event dispatcher to make sure we don't succeed simply because
+		 * the event dispatcher hasn't noticed the timer restart.
+		 */
+		timeout_.start();
+		thread_.eventDispatcher()->interrupt();
+
+		this_thread::sleep_for(chrono::milliseconds(200));
+
+		/*
+		 * Meson expects this test to fail, so we need to return
+		 * TestPass in the unexpected (usually known as "fail"), case,
+		 * and TestFail otherwise.
+		 */
+		if (timeout_.timeout()) {
+			cout << "Timer start from wrong thread succeeded unexpectedly"
+			     << endl;
+			return TestPass;
+		}
+
+		return TestFail;
+	}
+
+	void cleanup()
+	{
+		/* Must stop thread before destroying timeout. */
+		thread_.exit(0);
+		thread_.wait();
+	}
+
+private:
+	TimeoutHandler timeout_;
+	Thread thread_;
+};
+
+TEST_REGISTER(TimerFailTest)
diff --git a/test/timer-thread.cpp b/test/timer-thread.cpp
index 0bcd0d8ce194..4caf4e33b2ba 100644
--- a/test/timer-thread.cpp
+++ b/test/timer-thread.cpp
@@ -29,12 +29,6 @@ public:
 		timer_.start(100ms);
 	}
 
-	void restart()
-	{
-		timeout_ = false;
-		timer_.start(100ms);
-	}
-
 	bool timeout() const
 	{
 		return timeout_;
@@ -74,22 +68,6 @@ protected:
 			return TestFail;
 		}
 
-		/*
-		 * Test that starting the timer from another thread fails. We
-		 * need to interrupt the event dispatcher to make sure we don't
-		 * succeed simply because the event dispatcher hasn't noticed
-		 * the timer restart.
-		 */
-		timeout_.restart();
-		thread_.eventDispatcher()->interrupt();
-
-		this_thread::sleep_for(chrono::milliseconds(200));
-
-		if (timeout_.timeout()) {
-			cout << "Timer restart test failed" << endl;
-			return TestFail;
-		}
-
 		return TestPass;
 	}