diff --git a/experimental/CHANGELOG.md b/experimental/CHANGELOG.md
index 68c31a797e..4f553c1bd9 100644
--- a/experimental/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/experimental/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ For notes on migrating to 2.x / 0.200.x see [the upgrade guide](doc/upgrade-to-2
 ### :bug: Bug Fixes
 
 * fix(sdk-node): fix setting of ViewOption#name from ConfigurationModel [#6620](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/6620) @trentm
+* fix(web-common): add limit for timeout [#6601](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/6601) @maryliag
 
 ### :books: Documentation
 
diff --git a/experimental/packages/web-common/src/SessionManager.ts b/experimental/packages/web-common/src/SessionManager.ts
index 16c84f8dd2..3b5835b8c1 100644
--- a/experimental/packages/web-common/src/SessionManager.ts
+++ b/experimental/packages/web-common/src/SessionManager.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import type { SessionObserver } from './types/SessionObserver';
 import type { SessionStore } from './types/SessionStore';
 import type { SessionPublisher } from './types/SessionPublisher';
 
+const MAX_DURATION_MS = 2147483647; // max setTimeout value in milliseconds (~24.8 days)
 export interface SessionManagerConfig {
   /** Class responsible for generating a session ID */
   sessionIdGenerator: SessionIdGenerator;
@@ -145,9 +146,10 @@ export class SessionManager implements SessionProvider, SessionPublisher {
       clearTimeout(this._inactivityTimeoutId);
     }
 
+    const timeoutIn = Math.min(this._inactivityTimeout * 1000, MAX_DURATION_MS);
     this._inactivityTimeoutId = setTimeout(() => {
       this.resetSession();
-    }, this._inactivityTimeout * 1000);
+    }, timeoutIn);
   }
 
   private resetMaxDurationTimer() {
@@ -159,8 +161,13 @@ export class SessionManager implements SessionProvider, SessionPublisher {
       clearTimeout(this._maxDurationTimeoutId);
     }
 
-    const timeoutIn =
-      this._maxDuration * 1000 - (Date.now() - this._session?.startTimestamp);
+    const timeoutIn = Math.max(
+      0, // a backgrounded tab can cause a negative timeout value, so we use 0 to trigger session reset immediately on resume of the tab
+      Math.min(
+        this._maxDuration * 1000 - (Date.now() - this._session.startTimestamp),
+        MAX_DURATION_MS
+      )
+    );
 
     this._maxDurationTimeoutId = setTimeout(() => {
       this.resetSession();