diff --git a/scripts/check-file-utils.ts b/scripts/check-file-utils.ts
index 07e6b1c957cf..6df7f007eef2 100644
--- a/scripts/check-file-utils.ts
+++ b/scripts/check-file-utils.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ export const REPO_SCAN_SKIPPED_DIR_NAMES: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
   "node_modules",
   "vendor",
 ]);
+// Bound the Git lookup before falling back to direct filesystem traversal.
+const GIT_LS_FILES_TIMEOUT_MS = 30_000;
 
 export function isCodeFile(filePath: string): boolean {
   if (filePath.endsWith(".d.ts")) {
@@ -89,6 +91,8 @@ export function listRepoFilesSync(
     return execFileSync("git", ["-C", repoRoot, "ls-files", "--", ...roots], {
       encoding: "utf8",
       stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "ignore"],
+      timeout: GIT_LS_FILES_TIMEOUT_MS,
+      killSignal: "SIGKILL",
     })
       .split(/\r?\n/u)
       .filter(Boolean)
diff --git a/test/scripts/check-file-utils.test.ts b/test/scripts/check-file-utils.test.ts
index 17ff76fdd415..7342fd848159 100644
--- a/test/scripts/check-file-utils.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/check-file-utils.test.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,23 @@
 // Check File Utils tests cover check file utils script behavior.
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import {
   collectFilesSync,
   isCodeFile,
+  listRepoFilesSync,
   relativeToCwd,
   toPosixPath,
 } from "../../scripts/check-file-utils.js";
 import { createScriptTestHarness } from "./test-helpers.js";
 
+const execFileSyncMock = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn(() => ""));
+
+vi.mock("node:child_process", async (importOriginal) => {
+  const original = (await importOriginal()) as typeof import("node:child_process");
+  return { ...original, execFileSync: execFileSyncMock };
+});
+
 const { createTempDir } = createScriptTestHarness();
 
 describe("scripts/check-file-utils isCodeFile", () => {
@@ -64,3 +72,45 @@ describe("scripts/check-file-utils relativeToCwd", () => {
     );
   });
 });
+
+describe("scripts/check-file-utils listRepoFilesSync", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    execFileSyncMock.mockReset();
+  });
+
+  it("bounds git ls-files with a timeout and kill signal", () => {
+    execFileSyncMock.mockReturnValue("src/keep.ts\nsrc/skip.d.ts\n");
+
+    expect(
+      listRepoFilesSync("/fake/repo", {
+        includeFile: (filePath) => isCodeFile(filePath),
+      }),
+    ).toEqual(["src/keep.ts"]);
+    expect(execFileSyncMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      "git",
+      expect.arrayContaining(["-C", "/fake/repo", "ls-files", "--"]),
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        timeout: 30_000,
+        killSignal: "SIGKILL",
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to filesystem traversal when git ls-files times out", () => {
+    const error: NodeJS.ErrnoException & { signal?: string } = new Error("Command timed out");
+    error.code = "ETIMEDOUT";
+    error.signal = "SIGKILL";
+    execFileSyncMock.mockImplementation(() => {
+      throw error;
+    });
+    const rootDir = createTempDir("openclaw-check-file-utils-fallback-");
+    fs.mkdirSync(path.join(rootDir, "src"), { recursive: true });
+    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(rootDir, "src", "keep.ts"), "");
+
+    expect(
+      listRepoFilesSync(rootDir, {
+        includeFile: (filePath) => filePath.endsWith(".ts"),
+      }),
+    ).toEqual(["src/keep.ts"]);
+  });
+});