diff --git a/hugolib/hugo_sites_build_errors_test.go b/hugolib/hugo_sites_build_errors_test.go
index a5825b35f43..3af596d7ca3 100644
--- a/hugolib/hugo_sites_build_errors_test.go
+++ b/hugolib/hugo_sites_build_errors_test.go
@@ -313,3 +313,33 @@ Some content.
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/issues/5375
+func TestSiteBuildTimeout(t *testing.T) {
+
+	b := newTestSitesBuilder(t)
+	b.WithConfigFile("toml", `
+timeout = 5
+`)
+
+	b.WithTemplatesAdded("_default/single.html", `
+{{ .WordCount }}
+`, "shortcodes/c.html", `
+{{ range .Page.Site.RegularPages }}
+{{ .WordCount }}
+{{ end }}
+
+`)
+
+	for i := 1; i < 100; i++ {
+		b.WithContent(fmt.Sprintf("page%d.md", i), `---
+title: "A page"
+---
+
+{{< c >}}`)
+
+	}
+
+	b.CreateSites().Build(BuildCfg{})
+
+}
diff --git a/hugolib/page.go b/hugolib/page.go
index f7149ad7441..578aed9edc6 100644
--- a/hugolib/page.go
+++ b/hugolib/page.go
@@ -290,10 +290,11 @@ func (p *Page) initContent() {
 		defer cancel()
 		c := make(chan error, 1)
 
+		p.contentInitMu.Lock()
+		defer p.contentInitMu.Unlock()
+
 		go func() {
 			var err error
-			p.contentInitMu.Lock()
-			defer p.contentInitMu.Unlock()
 
 			err = p.prepareForRender()
 			if err != nil {
@@ -301,6 +302,12 @@ func (p *Page) initContent() {
 				return
 			}
 
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				return
+			default:
+			}
+
 			if len(p.summary) == 0 {
 				if err = p.setAutoSummary(); err != nil {
 					err = p.errorf(err, "failed to set auto summary")