diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-test-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/additional-spring-configuration-metadata.json b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-test-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/additional-spring-configuration-metadata.json
index a159ff61347..1f9673f3c45 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-test-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/additional-spring-configuration-metadata.json
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-test-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/additional-spring-configuration-metadata.json
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@
       "type": "java.lang.Boolean",
       "description": "Whether observability should be auto-configured in tests.",
       "defaultValue": false
+    },
+    {
+      "name": "spring.test.webtestclient.timeout",
+      "type": "java.time.Duration",
+      "description": "Maximum amount of time to wait for responses.",
+      "defaultValue": "5s"
     }
   ]
 }
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-test-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/test/autoconfigure/web/reactive/WebTestClientAutoConfigurationTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-test-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/test/autoconfigure/web/reactive/WebTestClientAutoConfigurationTests.java
index ad68bc587ae..988077e19e2 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-test-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/test/autoconfigure/web/reactive/WebTestClientAutoConfigurationTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-test-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/test/autoconfigure/web/reactive/WebTestClientAutoConfigurationTests.java
@@ -69,6 +69,14 @@ class WebTestClientAutoConfigurationTests {
 		});
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void shouldHaveConsistentDefaultTimeout() {
+		this.contextRunner.withUserConfiguration(BaseConfiguration.class).run((context) -> {
+			WebTestClient webTestClient = context.getBean(WebTestClient.class);
+			assertThat(webTestClient).hasFieldOrPropertyWithValue("responseTimeout", Duration.ofSeconds(5));
+		});
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	void shouldCustomizeTimeout() {
 		this.contextRunner.withUserConfiguration(BaseConfiguration.class)