diff --git a/.changeset/t13275-page-clock.md b/.changeset/t13275-page-clock.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d535a84df4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/t13275-page-clock.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+id: t13275-page-clock
+tasks: [T13275]
+kind: fix
+summary: A sync apply page's time budget counts applying, not its rewind
+---
+
+The page time bound (`REBASE_PAGE_MS`) used to be measured from before the page's rewind. When the local scope was large, the rewind
+alone could use up the budget. Every page then took a single transaction, and each page rewound and replayed the same scope again,
+all under the write lock. The bound now starts once the rewind is done.
diff --git a/packages/core/src/store/sync/apply/__tests__/rebase.test.ts b/packages/core/src/store/sync/apply/__tests__/rebase.test.ts
index 9d8613b1bc..693ef2ee47 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/store/sync/apply/__tests__/rebase.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/store/sync/apply/__tests__/rebase.test.ts
@@ -919,6 +919,23 @@ describe('pages (§3.5 Rule 3)', () => {
     expect(last2[0]?.f).not.toBe(last2[1]?.f);
   });
 
+  it("the time bound counts applying, not the page's rewind (T13275)", async () => {
+    const [a, b] = await threeReplicas();
+    write(a, "UPDATE tasks_tasks SET priority = 'high' WHERE uid = 'x'");
+    for (const t of ['t1', 't2', 't3']) {
+      publish(b, write(b, `UPDATE tasks_tasks SET title = '${t}' WHERE uid = 'x'`));
+    }
+    // Opening the page (its rewind) takes 100 ms; applying takes no time.
+    const base = Date.now();
+    const clock = () => (a.db.isTransaction ? base + 100 : base);
+    expect(sync(a, published.length, { pageMs: 50, now: clock })).toMatchObject({
+      applied: 3,
+      rebased: 3,
+    });
+    const last3 = frames(a).slice(-3);
+    expect(new Set(last3.map((x) => x.f)).size, 'the rewind used up the page budget').toBe(1);
+  });
+
   it('a page breaks on an actor change and keeps a larger transaction whole', async () => {
     const [a, b] = await threeReplicas();
     publish(
diff --git a/packages/core/src/store/sync/apply/applier.ts b/packages/core/src/store/sync/apply/applier.ts
index 47aaf3d80a..9db9fec0f6 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/store/sync/apply/applier.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/store/sync/apply/applier.ts
@@ -1426,10 +1426,13 @@ export function applyStagedTxns(db: DatabaseSync, opts: ApplyStagedOptions): App
         const rw: Rewound = rebase ? rewindTxns(c0, rebase) : { kept: new Map(), after: new Map() };
         const rewound = new Set(rebase?.rewind.map((l) => l.txn) ?? []);
         const decided = new Set<string>(); // rewound locals whose echo this page applied
+        // The time bound covers applying, not the rewind: a large scope must
+        // not shrink every page to one transaction that rewinds it again.
+        const applyStart = now();
         let taken = 0;
         for (const { st } of page) {
           // The time bound cuts a page between transactions (never inside one).
-          if (taken > 0 && now() - pageStart > (opts.pageMs ?? REBASE_PAGE_MS)) break;
+          if (taken > 0 && now() - applyStart > (opts.pageMs ?? REBASE_PAGE_MS)) break;
           taken += 1;
           const nowMs = now();
           const nowIso = new Date(nowMs).toISOString();