diff --git a/bubus/service.py b/bubus/service.py
index 72f652e..047cc12 100644
--- a/bubus/service.py
+++ b/bubus/service.py
@@ -1211,13 +1211,27 @@ async def deadlock_monitor():
             inside_handler_context.reset(handler_token)
             _current_handler_id_context.reset(handler_id_token)
 
-            # Ensure handler task is cancelled if it's still running
+            # Ensure handler task is cancelled if it's still running.
+            # If the handler is blocked in synchronous code (e.g. via
+            # run_in_executor or a C-level call), CancelledError cannot be
+            # delivered and the task won't respond to cancel().  We try once
+            # with a short grace period, then abandon the task so we don't
+            # hold the global lock indefinitely.  The zombie thread is logged
+            # so it can be diagnosed; it will be cleaned up when the process
+            # exits (it's a daemon thread under the default executor).
             if handler_task and not handler_task.done():
                 handler_task.cancel()
                 try:
-                    await asyncio.wait_for(handler_task, timeout=0.1)
+                    await asyncio.wait_for(handler_task, timeout=1.0)
                 except (asyncio.CancelledError, TimeoutError):
-                    pass  # Expected when we cancel the task
+                    if not handler_task.done():
+                        logger.warning(
+                            f'⚠️ {self} handler {get_handler_name(handler)}()'
+                            f' could not be cancelled (still running after 1s).'
+                            f' It is likely blocked in synchronous code and will'
+                            f' be abandoned as a zombie thread.'
+                        )
+                    pass  # Abandon the task — can't cancel blocking sync code
 
             # Ensure monitor task is cancelled
             try:
diff --git a/tests/test_handler_timeout_zombie_thread.py b/tests/test_handler_timeout_zombie_thread.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..403fb77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_handler_timeout_zombie_thread.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+"""Test that handler timeout doesn't hang the event bus.
+
+Option C: when a handler can't be cancelled (blocked in sync code), abandon
+it with a warning instead of holding the global lock indefinitely.
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import logging
+import threading
+import time
+
+import pytest
+
+from bubus import BaseEvent, EventBus
+
+
+class BlockEvent(BaseEvent[str]):
+    pass
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_timeout_does_not_hang_on_blocking_handler(caplog):
+    """A handler blocked in sync code must not hang the event bus.
+
+    The timeout fires after 1s. The fix: the finally block abandons the
+    task after a short grace period and logs a warning, releasing the global
+    lock so other events can proceed.
+    """
+    thread_started = threading.Event()
+    thread_should_stop = threading.Event()
+
+    def _block_sync():
+        thread_started.set()
+        thread_should_stop.wait(timeout=30)
+        return "done"
+
+    async def blocking_handler(event: BlockEvent) -> str:
+        loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
+        return await loop.run_in_executor(None, _block_sync)
+
+    bus = EventBus(name="test_zombie")
+    bus.on(BlockEvent, blocking_handler)
+    bus._start()
+
+    bus.dispatch(BlockEvent(event_timeout=1.0))
+
+    # step() must return within 5s — without the fix it hangs for 30s
+    # because the global lock is held waiting for the uncancellable task.
+    try:
+        await asyncio.wait_for(bus.step(timeout=1.0), timeout=5.0)
+    except (asyncio.TimeoutError, TimeoutError, Exception):
+        pass  # Expected — the handler timed out
+
+    # The warning about the abandoned thread should have been logged
+    thread_should_stop.set()
+    await bus.stop(timeout=1, clear=True)
+
+    assert thread_started.is_set(), "Handler thread should have started"