diff --git a/includes/common.inc b/includes/common.inc
index fa3878e347c125c0486a5c1217d46acc9288c31d..2f5d6b1b2480690fb1624d0113d24933615de17b 100644
--- a/includes/common.inc
+++ b/includes/common.inc
@@ -2662,7 +2662,7 @@ function page_set_cache() {
 function drupal_cron_run() {
   // Try to allocate enough time to run all the hook_cron implementations.
   if (function_exists('set_time_limit')) {
-    @set_time_limit($time_limit);
+    @set_time_limit(240);
   }
 
   // Fetch the cron semaphore
diff --git a/modules/node/node.module b/modules/node/node.module
index b94eab8f7188b36de6f60983d6fafcfb4cf9f32b..2f56c79fee7702d9d6b56d4d3c6f6cba2ad9c98e 100644
--- a/modules/node/node.module
+++ b/modules/node/node.module
@@ -2320,7 +2320,7 @@ function node_access_rebuild($batch_mode = FALSE) {
     else {
       // Try to allocate enough time to rebuild node grants
       if (function_exists('set_time_limit')) {
-        @set_time_limit($time_limit);
+        @set_time_limit(240);
       }
       $result = db_query("SELECT nid FROM {node}");
       while ($node = db_fetch_object($result)) {