diff --git a/lib/timers.js b/lib/timers.js
index f96bc62f286..4f4fcea4413 100644
--- a/lib/timers.js
+++ b/lib/timers.js
@@ -79,11 +79,15 @@ class Timeout {
 
 module.exports = {
   setTimeout (callback, delay, opaque) {
-    return new Timeout(callback, delay, opaque)
+    return delay < 1e3
+      ? setTimeout(callback, delay, opaque)
+      : new Timeout(callback, delay, opaque)
   },
   clearTimeout (timeout) {
-    if (timeout && timeout.clear) {
+    if (timeout instanceof Timeout) {
       timeout.clear()
+    } else {
+      clearTimeout(timeout)
     }
   }
 }