diff --git a/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_processor.go b/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_processor.go
index c83a5430b96f1e..73ea6a1152aa34 100644
--- a/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_processor.go
+++ b/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_processor.go
@@ -54,6 +54,13 @@ type connectionState struct {
 
 	// rttTracker is used to track round trip times
 	rttTracker rttTracker
+
+	// lastUpdateEpoch contains the last timestamp this connection sent/received a packet
+	// TODO find a way to combine this with ConnectionStats.lastUpdateEpoch
+	// This exists because connections in pendingConns don't have a ConnectionStats object yet.
+	// Can we make all connections in TCPProcessor have a ConnectionStats no matter what, and
+	// filter them out in GetConnections?
+	lastUpdateEpoch uint64
 }
 
 func (st *connectionState) hasMissedHandshake() bool {
@@ -71,6 +78,7 @@ type TCPProcessor struct {
 
 // TODO make this into a config value
 const maxPendingConns = 4096
+const pendingConnTimeoutNs = uint64(5 * time.Second)
 
 // NewTCPProcessor constructs an empty TCPProcessor
 func NewTCPProcessor(cfg *config.Config) *TCPProcessor {
@@ -155,6 +163,7 @@ func (t *TCPProcessor) updateSynFlag(conn *network.ConnectionStats, st *connecti
 func (t *TCPProcessor) updateTCPStats(conn *network.ConnectionStats, st *connectionState, pktType uint8, tcp *layers.TCP, payloadLen uint16, timestampNs uint64) {
 	nextSeq := calcNextSeq(tcp, payloadLen)
 
+	st.lastUpdateEpoch = timestampNs
 	if pktType == unix.PACKET_OUTGOING {
 		conn.Monotonic.SentPackets++
 		// packetCanRetransmit filters out packets that look like retransmits but aren't, like TCP keepalives
@@ -339,3 +348,20 @@ func (t *TCPProcessor) moveConn(tuple network.ConnectionTuple, st *connectionSta
 	}
 	return true
 }
+
+// CleanupExpiredPendingConns iterates through pendingConns and removes those that
+// have existed too long - in normal TCP, they should become established right away.
+//
+// This is only required for pendingConns because the tracer already has logic to remove
+// established connections (connections that have ConnectionStats)
+func (t *TCPProcessor) CleanupExpiredPendingConns(timestampNs uint64) {
+	for tuple, st := range t.pendingConns {
+		timeoutTime := st.lastUpdateEpoch + pendingConnTimeoutNs
+
+		if timeoutTime <= timestampNs {
+			delete(t.pendingConns, tuple)
+
+			statsTelemetry.expiredPendingConns.Inc()
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_processor_test.go b/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_processor_test.go
index dea6090eb121d1..b7d525bce15319 100644
--- a/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_processor_test.go
+++ b/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_processor_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"net"
 	"syscall"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 
@@ -792,3 +793,25 @@ func TestPreexistingConn(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	require.Equal(t, expectedStats, f.conn.Monotonic)
 }
+
+func TestPendingConnExpiry(t *testing.T) {
+	now := uint64(time.Now().UnixNano())
+
+	pb := newPacketBuilder(lowerSeq, higherSeq)
+	pkt := pb.outgoing(0, 0, 0, SYN)
+	pkt.timestampNs = now
+
+	f := newTCPTestFixture(t)
+
+	f.runPkt(pkt)
+	require.Len(t, f.tcp.pendingConns, 1)
+
+	// if no time has passed, should not remove the connection
+	f.tcp.CleanupExpiredPendingConns(now)
+	require.Len(t, f.tcp.pendingConns, 1)
+
+	// if too much time has passed, should remove the connection
+	tenSecNs := uint64((10 * time.Second).Nanoseconds())
+	f.tcp.CleanupExpiredPendingConns(now + tenSecNs)
+	require.Empty(t, f.tcp.pendingConns)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_utils.go b/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_utils.go
index 4abe627a995d54..7a30737e734aee 100644
--- a/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_utils.go
+++ b/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless/tcp_utils.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 var statsTelemetry = struct {
+	expiredPendingConns     telemetry.Counter
 	droppedPendingConns     telemetry.Counter
 	droppedEstablishedConns telemetry.Counter
 	missedTCPHandshakes     telemetry.Counter
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ var statsTelemetry = struct {
 	tcpRstAndSyn            telemetry.Counter
 	tcpRstAndFin            telemetry.Counter
 }{
+	expiredPendingConns:     telemetry.NewCounter(ebpflessModuleName, "expired_pending_conns", nil, "Counter measuring the number of TCP connections which expired because it took too long to complete the handshake"),
 	droppedPendingConns:     telemetry.NewCounter(ebpflessModuleName, "dropped_pending_conns", nil, "Counter measuring the number of TCP connections which were dropped during the handshake (because the map was full)"),
 	droppedEstablishedConns: telemetry.NewCounter(ebpflessModuleName, "dropped_established_conns", nil, "Counter measuring the number of TCP connections which were dropped while established (because the map was full)"),
 	missedTCPHandshakes:     telemetry.NewCounter(ebpflessModuleName, "missed_tcp_handshakes", nil, "Counter measuring the number of TCP connections where we missed the SYN handshake"),
diff --git a/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless_tracer.go b/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless_tracer.go
index 88c744239fd39e..3eb5a03344b2a1 100644
--- a/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless_tracer.go
+++ b/pkg/network/tracer/connection/ebpfless_tracer.go
@@ -303,6 +303,12 @@ func (t *ebpfLessTracer) GetConnections(buffer *network.ConnectionBuffer, filter
 	t.m.Lock()
 	defer t.m.Unlock()
 
+	// use GetConnections to periodically cleanup pending connections
+	err := t.cleanupPendingConns()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	if len(t.conns) == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -321,20 +327,35 @@ func (t *ebpfLessTracer) GetConnections(buffer *network.ConnectionBuffer, filter
 	return nil
 }
 
+// cleanupPendingConns removes pending connections from the TCP tracer.
+// For more information, refer to CleanupExpiredPendingConns
+func (t *ebpfLessTracer) cleanupPendingConns() error {
+	ts, err := ddebpf.NowNanoseconds()
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("error getting last updated timestamp for connection: %w", err)
+	}
+	t.tcp.CleanupExpiredPendingConns(uint64(ts))
+	return nil
+}
+
 // FlushPending forces any closed connections waiting for batching to be processed immediately.
 func (t *ebpfLessTracer) FlushPending() {}
 
+func (t *ebpfLessTracer) remove(conn *network.ConnectionStats) error {
+	delete(t.conns, conn.ConnectionTuple)
+	if conn.Type == network.TCP {
+		t.tcp.RemoveConn(conn.ConnectionTuple)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // Remove deletes the connection from tracking state.
 // It does not prevent the connection from re-appearing later, if additional traffic occurs.
 func (t *ebpfLessTracer) Remove(conn *network.ConnectionStats) error {
 	t.m.Lock()
 	defer t.m.Unlock()
 
-	delete(t.conns, conn.ConnectionTuple)
-	if conn.Type == network.TCP {
-		t.tcp.RemoveConn(conn.ConnectionTuple)
-	}
-	return nil
+	return t.remove(conn)
 }
 
 // GetMap returns the underlying named map. This is useful if any maps are shared with other eBPF components.