diff --git a/sql/mysqld.cc b/sql/mysqld.cc
index 7b5e75b4..f88179bf 100644
--- a/sql/mysqld.cc
+++ b/sql/mysqld.cc
@@ -1381,6 +1381,7 @@ ulong slow_launch_time;
 std::atomic<int32> atomic_replica_open_temp_tables{0};
 ulong open_files_limit, max_binlog_size, max_relay_log_size;
 ulong slave_trans_retries;
+ulong replica_lock_wait_timeout;
 uint replica_net_timeout;
 ulong replica_exec_mode_options;
 ulonglong replica_type_conversions_options;
diff --git a/sql/mysqld.h b/sql/mysqld.h
index 1a0d22d3..435da4d0 100644
--- a/sql/mysqld.h
+++ b/sql/mysqld.h
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ extern ulong max_digest_length;
 extern ulong max_connect_errors, connect_timeout;
 extern bool opt_replica_allow_batching;
 extern ulong slave_trans_retries;
+extern ulong replica_lock_wait_timeout;
 extern uint replica_net_timeout;
 extern ulong opt_mts_replica_parallel_workers;
 extern ulonglong opt_mts_pending_jobs_size_max;
diff --git a/sql/rpl_replica.cc b/sql/rpl_replica.cc
index 0cbd0a2b..8119536d 100644
--- a/sql/rpl_replica.cc
+++ b/sql/rpl_replica.cc
@@ -4132,8 +4132,12 @@ int init_replica_thread(THD *thd, SLAVE_THD_TYPE thd_type) {
     THD_STAGE_INFO(thd, stage_waiting_for_source_update);
   }
   thd->set_time();
-  /* Do not use user-supplied timeout value for system threads. */
-  thd->variables.lock_wait_timeout = LONG_TIMEOUT;
+  /*
+    System threads do not inherit the user-supplied lock_wait_timeout.
+    Replication applier threads use replica_lock_wait_timeout, which
+    defaults to LONG_TIMEOUT (1 year) to preserve historical behavior.
+  */
+  thd->variables.lock_wait_timeout = replica_lock_wait_timeout;
   return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/sql/sys_vars.cc b/sql/sys_vars.cc
index 8ef0199c..ca8e3439 100644
--- a/sql/sys_vars.cc
+++ b/sql/sys_vars.cc
@@ -6312,6 +6312,13 @@ static Sys_var_ulong Sys_replica_transaction_retries(
 static Sys_var_deprecated_alias Sys_slave_transaction_retries(
     "slave_transaction_retries", Sys_replica_transaction_retries);
 
+static Sys_var_ulong Sys_replica_lock_wait_timeout(
+    "replica_lock_wait_timeout",
+    "Timeout in seconds for replication applier threads (SQL_thread)"
+    " to wait for a metadata lock before returning an error. ",
+    GLOBAL_VAR(replica_lock_wait_timeout), CMD_LINE(REQUIRED_ARG),
+    VALID_RANGE(1, LONG_TIMEOUT), DEFAULT(LONG_TIMEOUT), BLOCK_SIZE(1));
+
 static Sys_var_ulong Sys_replica_parallel_workers(
     "replica_parallel_workers",
     "Number of worker threads applying changes in parallel ",