diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/panels/layers/tests.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/panels/layers/tests.rs
index 212778957..4b47cbd3f 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/panels/layers/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/panels/layers/tests.rs
@@ -272,12 +272,44 @@ fn closing_a_document_releases_only_its_layer_thumbnails() {
     });
 }
 
+/// From now on each reading of this thread's render budget clock is `ms` later than the one before.
+/// A render reads it before and after, so each row thumbnail rendered takes `ms` of the budget.
+fn clock_steps(ms: f64) {
+    let mut now = 0.0;
+    THUMBS.with(|c| {
+        c.borrow_mut().clock = Some(Box::new(move || {
+            now += ms;
+            now
+        }))
+    });
+}
+
+/// Rendering on the UI thread stops for the pass once the thumbnails rendered in it took the
+/// budget, and the rest render in the next passes.
+#[test]
+fn row_thumbnails_past_the_render_budget_wait_for_the_next_pass() {
+    let (mut app, _, _) = two_rects();
+    let ctx = egui::Context::default();
+    let renders = || THUMBS.with(|c| c.borrow().renders);
+    // Each render takes 5 ms: after two renders the pass has used 10 ms, past the 8 ms budget.
+    clock_steps(5.0);
+    let mut per_pass = vec![];
+    for _ in 0..4 {
+        let before = renders();
+        frame(&mut app, &ctx, vec![], false);
+        per_pass.push(renders() - before);
+    }
+    assert_eq!(per_pass, [2, 1, 0, 0], "the layer's and two objects' thumbnails, two in the first pass");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn row_thumbnails_wait_for_the_end_of_a_drag() {
     let (mut app, _, _) = two_rects();
     app.session.execute("select.all", &json!({})).unwrap();
     let ctx = egui::Context::default();
     let renders = || THUMBS.with(|c| c.borrow().renders);
+    // Renders take no time, so every row's thumbnail fits in a pass however busy the machine is.
+    clock_steps(0.0);
     frame(&mut app, &ctx, vec![], false);
     let first = renders();
     assert!(first >= 1, "the rows' thumbnails render at once");
diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/panels/layers/thumbs.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/panels/layers/thumbs.rs
index dacf77425..861e89427 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/panels/layers/thumbs.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/panels/layers/thumbs.rs
@@ -65,6 +65,10 @@ pub(super) struct Thumbs {
     spent: (u64, f64, u32),
     /// Thumbnails rendered on the UI thread (tests count them).
     pub(super) renders: u64,
+    /// A test's clock (ms) for the render budget, replacing [`crate::now_ms`] so a test decides how
+    /// long each render takes (production always leaves this `None`).
+    #[cfg(test)]
+    pub(super) clock: Option<Box<dyn FnMut() -> f64>>,
 }
 
 thread_local! {
@@ -258,6 +262,15 @@ impl Thumbs {
         self.entries.keys().any(|key| key.0 == uid)
     }
 
+    /// The time (ms) a render on the UI thread is measured by: [`crate::now_ms`], or a test's clock.
+    fn now_ms(&mut self) -> f64 {
+        #[cfg(test)]
+        if let Some(clock) = self.clock.as_mut() {
+            return clock();
+        }
+        crate::now_ms()
+    }
+
     /// Release thumbnails and queued jobs for documents that have closed, keeping the cache for
     /// other open documents even when the panels are hidden or another document is active. When a
     /// document closes, the worker drops its jobs, the one running included, and the images it
@@ -416,9 +429,9 @@ impl Thumbs {
         thread_local! {
             static RENDERER: std::cell::RefCell<vectorcraft_render::Renderer> = std::cell::RefCell::new(vectorcraft_render::Renderer::new());
         }
-        let t0 = crate::now_ms();
+        let t0 = self.now_ms();
         let img = RENDERER.with(|r| render_thumb(&mut r.borrow_mut(), src.doc, n, px));
-        let ms = crate::now_ms() - t0;
+        let ms = self.now_ms() - t0;
         self.spent.1 += ms;
         self.spent.2 += 1;
         self.renders += 1;