diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 35342af36fb..d76fb3e1a07 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ PHP                                                                        NEWS
 - Core:
   . Fixed bug GH-19765 (object_properties_load() bypasses readonly property
     checks). (timwolla)
+  . Fixed hard_timeout with --enable-zend-max-execution-timers. (Appla)
 
 - Opcache:
   . Fixed bug GH-19669 (assertion failure in zend_jit_trace_type_to_info_ex).
diff --git a/Zend/zend_execute_API.c b/Zend/zend_execute_API.c
index 48e61c68390..6f790df8698 100644
--- a/Zend/zend_execute_API.c
+++ b/Zend/zend_execute_API.c
@@ -1570,7 +1570,9 @@ static void zend_set_timeout_ex(zend_long seconds, bool reset_signals) /* {{{ */
 		return;
 	}
 #elif defined(ZEND_MAX_EXECUTION_TIMERS)
-	zend_max_execution_timer_settime(seconds);
+	if (seconds > 0) {
+		zend_max_execution_timer_settime(seconds);
+	}
 
 	if (reset_signals) {
 		sigset_t sigset;
@@ -1657,7 +1659,9 @@ void zend_unset_timeout(void) /* {{{ */
 		tq_timer = NULL;
 	}
 #elif defined(ZEND_MAX_EXECUTION_TIMERS)
-	zend_max_execution_timer_settime(0);
+	if (EG(timeout_seconds)) {
+		zend_max_execution_timer_settime(0);
+	}
 #elif defined(HAVE_SETITIMER)
 	if (EG(timeout_seconds)) {
 		struct itimerval no_timeout;