diff --git a/cmd/tendermint/commands/light.go b/cmd/tendermint/commands/light.go
index 8e39d7900..2b812fe18 100644
--- a/cmd/tendermint/commands/light.go
+++ b/cmd/tendermint/commands/light.go
@@ -171,7 +171,8 @@ for applications built w/ Cosmos SDK).
 			// If necessary adjust global WriteTimeout to ensure it's greater than
 			// TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit.
 			// See https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues/3435
-			if cfg.WriteTimeout <= conf.RPC.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit {
+			// Note we don't need to adjust anything if the timeout is already unlimited.
+			if cfg.WriteTimeout > 0 && cfg.WriteTimeout <= conf.RPC.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit {
 				cfg.WriteTimeout = conf.RPC.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit + 1*time.Second
 			}
 
diff --git a/internal/inspect/rpc/rpc.go b/internal/inspect/rpc/rpc.go
index 00c3e52ef..d70616834 100644
--- a/internal/inspect/rpc/rpc.go
+++ b/internal/inspect/rpc/rpc.go
@@ -125,7 +125,8 @@ func serverRPCConfig(r *config.RPCConfig) *server.Config {
 	// If necessary adjust global WriteTimeout to ensure it's greater than
 	// TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit.
 	// See https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues/3435
-	if cfg.WriteTimeout <= r.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit {
+	// Note we don't need to adjust anything if the timeout is already unlimited.
+	if cfg.WriteTimeout > 0 && cfg.WriteTimeout <= r.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit {
 		cfg.WriteTimeout = r.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit + 1*time.Second
 	}
 	return cfg
diff --git a/internal/rpc/core/env.go b/internal/rpc/core/env.go
index 24f43a4a7..124525f26 100644
--- a/internal/rpc/core/env.go
+++ b/internal/rpc/core/env.go
@@ -236,7 +236,8 @@ func (env *Environment) StartService(ctx context.Context, conf *config.Config) (
 	// If necessary adjust global WriteTimeout to ensure it's greater than
 	// TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit.
 	// See https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues/3435
-	if cfg.WriteTimeout <= conf.RPC.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit {
+	// Note we don't need to adjust anything if the timeout is already unlimited.
+	if cfg.WriteTimeout > 0 && cfg.WriteTimeout <= conf.RPC.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit {
 		cfg.WriteTimeout = conf.RPC.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit + 1*time.Second
 	}
 
diff --git a/test/e2e/node/main.go b/test/e2e/node/main.go
index 2cbb9e4b0..94c1af1ab 100644
--- a/test/e2e/node/main.go
+++ b/test/e2e/node/main.go
@@ -210,7 +210,8 @@ func startLightNode(ctx context.Context, logger log.Logger, cfg *Config) error {
 	// If necessary adjust global WriteTimeout to ensure it's greater than
 	// TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit.
 	// See https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/issues/3435
-	if rpccfg.WriteTimeout <= tmcfg.RPC.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit {
+	// Note we don't need to adjust anything if the timeout is already unlimited.
+	if rpccfg.WriteTimeout > 0 && rpccfg.WriteTimeout <= tmcfg.RPC.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit {
 		rpccfg.WriteTimeout = tmcfg.RPC.TimeoutBroadcastTxCommit + 1*time.Second
 	}