diff --git a/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/bugs/TransactedStoreUsageSuspendResumeTest.java b/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/bugs/TransactedStoreUsageSuspendResumeTest.java
index d6d628ad7b6..cb064f77b86 100644
--- a/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/bugs/TransactedStoreUsageSuspendResumeTest.java
+++ b/activemq-unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/bugs/TransactedStoreUsageSuspendResumeTest.java
@@ -51,7 +51,17 @@
 public class TransactedStoreUsageSuspendResumeTest {
     private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(TransactedStoreUsageSuspendResumeTest.class);
 
-    private static final int MAX_MESSAGES = 10000;
+    /**
+     * Keep volume modest while still triggering store usage blocking. Smaller
+     * store limits combined with these numbers still exercise the same flow
+     * control behaviour but in a fraction of the time.
+     */
+    private static final int MAX_MESSAGES = 1000;
+    private static final int RETAIN_QUEUE_FILL_COUNT = 400;
+    private static final int SHORT_RETAIN_QUEUE_FILL_COUNT = 200;
+    private static final int STORE_USAGE_LIMIT = 4 * 1024 * 1024;
+    private static final int RECEIVE_TIMEOUT_MILLIS = 5000;
+    private static final int MAX_IDLE_RECEIVES = 12; // 1 minute (RECEIVE_TIMEOUT_MILLIS times MAX_IDLE_RECEIVES attempts)
 
     private static final String QUEUE_NAME = "test.queue";
 
@@ -85,11 +95,18 @@ public void run() {
 
                 MessageConsumer consumer = session.createConsumer(session.createQueue(QUEUE_NAME));
 
+                int idleReceives = 0;
                 do {
-                    Message message = consumer.receive(5000);
+                    Message message = consumer.receive(RECEIVE_TIMEOUT_MILLIS);
                     if (message != null) {
                         session.commit();
                         messagesReceivedCountDown.countDown();
+                        idleReceives = 0;
+                    } else {
+                        idleReceives++;
+                        if (idleReceives >= MAX_IDLE_RECEIVES) {
+                            Assert.fail("Timed out waiting for messages, remaining: " + messagesReceivedCountDown.getCount());
+                        }
                     }
                     if (messagesReceivedCountDown.getCount() % 500 == 0) {
                         LOG.info("remaining to receive: " + messagesReceivedCountDown.getCount());
@@ -121,7 +138,7 @@ public void setup() throws Exception {
         kahaDB.setCompactAcksAfterNoGC(5);
         broker.setPersistenceAdapter(kahaDB);
 
-        broker.getSystemUsage().getStoreUsage().setLimit(7*1024*1024);
+        broker.getSystemUsage().getStoreUsage().setLimit(STORE_USAGE_LIMIT);
 
         broker.start();
         broker.waitUntilStarted();
@@ -179,7 +196,7 @@ private void sendMessages() throws Exception {
         BytesMessage message = session.createBytesMessage();
         message.writeBytes(new byte[10]);
 
-        for (int i=0; i<1240; i++) {
+        for (int i = 0; i < RETAIN_QUEUE_FILL_COUNT; i++) {
             // mostly fill the store with retained messages
             // so consumer only has a small bit of store usage to work with
             producer.send(retainQueue, message);
@@ -190,13 +207,13 @@ private void sendMessages() throws Exception {
         // some daylight in needed between retainQ and regularQ to free up the store
         // log4j.logger.org.apache.activemq.store.kahadb.MessageDatabase=TRACE
         Destination shortRetainQueue = session.createQueue(QUEUE_NAME + "-retain-short");
-        for (int i=0; i<1240; i++) {
+        for (int i = 0; i < SHORT_RETAIN_QUEUE_FILL_COUNT; i++) {
             producer.send(shortRetainQueue, message);
             session.commit();
         }
 
         MessageConsumer consumer = session.createConsumer(shortRetainQueue);
-        for (int i=0; i<1240; i++) {
+        for (int i = 0; i < SHORT_RETAIN_QUEUE_FILL_COUNT; i++) {
             consumer.receive(4000);
             session.commit();
         }