diff --git a/bubus/service.py b/bubus/service.py
index 72f652e..5834e67 100644
--- a/bubus/service.py
+++ b/bubus/service.py
@@ -1127,9 +1127,23 @@ async def deadlock_monitor():
                 # This allows us to process child events when the handler awaits them
                 result_value: Any = await asyncio.wait_for(handler_task, timeout=event_result.timeout)
             elif inspect.isfunction(handler) or inspect.ismethod(handler):
-                # If handler function is sync function, run it directly in the main thread
-                # This blocks but ensures we have access to the event loop, dont run it in a subthread!
-                result_value: Any = handler(event)
+                # If handler function is sync function, run it in a worker thread
+                # via anyio.to_thread.run_sync so that the handler timeout can
+                # actually cancel it. anyio's thread cancellation works by
+                # cancelling the portal task, unlike run_in_executor which
+                # cannot cancel the underlying thread.
+                #
+                # Previously this ran directly in the event loop thread, which
+                # blocked the loop entirely and made the timeout useless.
+                if event_result.timeout is not None:
+                    with anyio.fail_after(event_result.timeout):
+                        result_value: Any = await anyio.to_thread.run_sync(
+                            handler, event, abandon_on_cancel=True
+                        )
+                else:
+                    result_value: Any = await anyio.to_thread.run_sync(
+                        handler, event
+                    )
 
                 # If the sync handler returned a BaseEvent (from dispatch), DON'T await it
                 # For forwarding handlers like bus.on('*', other_bus.dispatch), the handler
diff --git a/tests/test_handler_timeout_zombie_thread.py b/tests/test_handler_timeout_zombie_thread.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28c891c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_handler_timeout_zombie_thread.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+"""Test that sync handler timeout doesn't hang the event bus.
+
+Option A: sync handlers now run via anyio.to_thread.run_sync with
+abandon_on_cancel=True, so the timeout can cancel the await and the bus
+stays responsive. The worker thread may still be alive (Python can't kill
+threads), but the bus is no longer blocked on it.
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import threading
+
+import pytest
+
+from bubus import BaseEvent, EventBus
+
+
+class BlockEvent(BaseEvent[str]):
+    pass
+
+
+class FastEvent(BaseEvent[str]):
+    pass
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_sync_handler_timeout_does_not_block_subsequent_events():
+    """A sync handler that blocks must not prevent subsequent events from
+    being processed after the timeout fires.
+
+    Before the fix: sync handlers ran directly in the event loop thread,
+    so a blocking sync handler blocked the entire loop — the timeout never
+    fired and no other events could be processed.
+
+    After the fix: sync handlers run via anyio.to_thread.run_sync, so the
+    event loop stays free to enforce the timeout and process other events.
+    """
+    thread_started = threading.Event()
+    thread_should_stop = threading.Event()
+    fast_event_handled = threading.Event()
+
+    def blocking_sync_handler(event: BlockEvent) -> str:
+        thread_started.set()
+        thread_should_stop.wait(timeout=30)
+        return "done"
+
+    def fast_sync_handler(event: FastEvent) -> str:
+        fast_event_handled.set()
+        return "fast"
+
+    bus = EventBus(name="test_sync_timeout")
+    bus.on(BlockEvent, blocking_sync_handler)
+    bus.on(FastEvent, fast_sync_handler)
+    bus._start()
+
+    # Dispatch the blocking event
+    bus.dispatch(BlockEvent(event_timeout=1.0))
+    try:
+        await asyncio.wait_for(bus.step(timeout=1.0), timeout=5.0)
+    except (asyncio.TimeoutError, TimeoutError, Exception):
+        pass  # Expected — the handler timed out
+
+    # Now dispatch a fast event — it must be processed quickly.
+    # Before the fix, the event loop was blocked by the sync handler
+    # and this would hang.
+    bus.dispatch(FastEvent())
+    await asyncio.wait_for(bus.step(timeout=1.0), timeout=5.0)
+
+    thread_should_stop.set()
+    await bus.stop(timeout=1, clear=True)
+
+    assert thread_started.is_set(), "Blocking handler should have started"
+    assert fast_event_handled.is_set(), "Fast event should have been processed"