diff --git a/lib/child_process.js b/lib/child_process.js
index 0e3e04af0d6..d70790c3c8f 100644
--- a/lib/child_process.js
+++ b/lib/child_process.js
@@ -824,12 +824,16 @@ function spawn(file, args, options) {
       }
     }, options.timeout);
 
-    child.once('exit', () => {
+    const clearSpawnTimeout = () => {
       if (timeoutId) {
         clearTimeout(timeoutId);
         timeoutId = null;
       }
-    });
+    };
+
+    // A spawn-time failure only emits 'error', never 'exit'.
+    child.once('exit', clearSpawnTimeout);
+    child.once('error', clearSpawnTimeout);
   }
 
   if (options.signal) {
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-child-process-spawn-timeout-clear-on-error.js b/test/parallel/test-child-process-spawn-timeout-clear-on-error.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..74bf40afc3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/parallel/test-child-process-spawn-timeout-clear-on-error.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+'use strict';
+
+// The timeout timer must clear on a spawn-time 'error', not just 'exit'.
+
+const common = require('../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+const { spawn } = require('child_process');
+
+const start = Date.now();
+
+const cp = spawn(process.execPath, ['--version'], {
+  cwd: '/nonexistent/path/that/should/never/exist',
+  timeout: common.platformTimeout(10000),
+});
+
+cp.on('error', common.mustCall((err) => {
+  assert.strictEqual(err.code, 'ENOENT');
+  assert.ok(Date.now() - start < 2000);
+}));
+
+cp.on('exit', common.mustNotCall());