diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index 5587d62..e95d24c 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 2026-03-23 - 3.5.1 - fix(runtime)
+handle expected exitCode rejection after terminating timed out test processes
+
+- swallow the child process exitCode rejection triggered by timeout termination
+- reduce unhandled rejection noise when test files exceed the configured timeout
+
 ## 2026-03-19 - 3.5.0 - feat(tstest)
 add support for package.json before scripts during test execution
 
diff --git a/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts b/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
index 7443d51..724f648 100644
--- a/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
+++ b/ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@
  */
 export const commitinfo = {
   name: '@git.zone/tstest',
-  version: '3.5.0',
+  version: '3.5.1',
   description: 'A powerful, modern test runner for TypeScript with multi-runtime support (Node.js, Deno, Bun, Chromium) and a batteries-included test framework.'
 }
diff --git a/ts/tstest.classes.runtime.node.ts b/ts/tstest.classes.runtime.node.ts
index ed94689..7ac4dba 100644
--- a/ts/tstest.classes.runtime.node.ts
+++ b/ts/tstest.classes.runtime.node.ts
@@ -184,6 +184,8 @@ import '${absoluteTestFile.replace(/\\/g, '/')}';
         timeoutId = setTimeout(async () => {
           // Use tsrun's terminate() to gracefully kill the process
           await tsrunProcess.terminate();
+          // Swallow the expected rejection from the killed child process
+          tsrunProcess.exitCode.catch(() => {});
           reject(new Error(`Test file timed out after ${this.timeoutSeconds} seconds`));
         }, timeoutMs);
       });