diff --git a/src/event_manager.cc b/src/event_manager.cc
index 2c77e144..b7100a8f 100644
--- a/src/event_manager.cc
+++ b/src/event_manager.cc
@@ -87,7 +87,8 @@ void EventManager::handle_next_events(EventMode mode)
     auto timeout = duration_cast<microseconds>(next_timer - Clock::now()).count();
 
     constexpr auto us = 1000000;
-    timeval tv{ (time_t)(timeout / us), (suseconds_t)(timeout % us) };
+    // max timeout of 2 secs
+    timeval tv{ (time_t)(timeout > us ? 1 : 0), (suseconds_t)(timeout % us) };
     int res = select(max_fd + 1, &rfds, nullptr, nullptr, &tv);
 
     // copy forced fds *after* poll, so that signal handlers can write to