diff --git a/docs/runtime/http/websockets.mdx b/docs/runtime/http/websockets.mdx
index 216c9bd290f6..2314da6e47ed 100644
--- a/docs/runtime/http/websockets.mdx
+++ b/docs/runtime/http/websockets.mdx
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ The `.send(message)` method of `ServerWebSocket` returns a `number` indicating t
 
 ### Timeouts and limits
 
-By default, Bun closes a WebSocket connection that has been idle for 120 seconds. Configure this with the `idleTimeout` parameter.
+By default, Bun closes a WebSocket connection that has been idle for 120 seconds. Configure this with the `idleTimeout` parameter. It takes a whole number of seconds from `0` to `960`. `0` disables the timeout entirely, and values from `1` to `7` are rounded up to `8`.
 
 ```ts
 Bun.serve({
diff --git a/packages/bun-types/serve.d.ts b/packages/bun-types/serve.d.ts
index e5121186c288..58020c5e84fa 100644
--- a/packages/bun-types/serve.d.ts
+++ b/packages/bun-types/serve.d.ts
@@ -494,6 +494,9 @@ declare module "bun" {
      * Sets the number of seconds to wait before timing out a connection
      * due to no messages or pings.
      *
+     * The maximum value is `960`. `0` disables the timeout. Values from
+     * `1` to `7` are rounded up to `8`.
+     *
      * @default 120
      */
     idleTimeout?: number;
diff --git a/src/runtime/server/WebSocketServerContext.rs b/src/runtime/server/WebSocketServerContext.rs
index ba718f89f2b8..890ec4f7f11f 100644
--- a/src/runtime/server/WebSocketServerContext.rs
+++ b/src/runtime/server/WebSocketServerContext.rs
@@ -331,18 +331,19 @@ pub(crate) fn on_create(
                 )));
             }
 
-            let mut idle_timeout: u16 = value.to_int64().max(0) as u16;
-            if idle_timeout > 960 {
+            let seconds = value.to_int64();
+            if !(0..=960).contains(&seconds) {
                 return Err(global_object.throw_invalid_arguments(format_args!(
-                    "websocket expects idleTimeout to be 960 or less"
+                    "websocket expects idleTimeout to be between 0 and 960"
                 )));
-            } else if idle_timeout > 0 {
-                // uws does not allow idleTimeout to be between (0, 8),
-                // since its timer is not that accurate, therefore round up.
-                idle_timeout = idle_timeout.max(8);
             }
 
-            server.idle_timeout = idle_timeout;
+            // uws::App::ws terminates on an idleTimeout in 1..8 or above 960.
+            server.idle_timeout = if seconds > 0 {
+                (seconds as u16).max(8)
+            } else {
+                0
+            };
         }
     }
     if let Some(value) = object.get(global_object, "backpressureLimit")? {
diff --git a/test/js/bun/http/bun-serve-args.test.ts b/test/js/bun/http/bun-serve-args.test.ts
index a37874d579da..2af8219a5d45 100644
--- a/test/js/bun/http/bun-serve-args.test.ts
+++ b/test/js/bun/http/bun-serve-args.test.ts
@@ -201,6 +201,41 @@ describe("Bun.serve websocket options", () => {
     server.stop();
   });
 
+  // idleTimeout was narrowed to 16 bits before the range check, so 65537
+  // became 1 second and 2 ** 31 became 0 (no timeout at all).
+  test("websocket idleTimeout outside 0..960 throws", () => {
+    for (const idleTimeout of [65537, 2 ** 31, 961, -1]) {
+      expect(() =>
+        serve({
+          port: 0,
+          websocket: {
+            message(ws, message) {},
+            idleTimeout,
+          },
+          fetch() {
+            return new Response("ok");
+          },
+        }),
+      ).toThrow("websocket expects idleTimeout to be between 0 and 960");
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("websocket idleTimeout accepts 0 and 960", () => {
+    for (const idleTimeout of [0, 960]) {
+      using server = serve({
+        port: 0,
+        websocket: {
+          message(ws, message) {},
+          idleTimeout,
+        },
+        fetch() {
+          return new Response("ok");
+        },
+      });
+      server.stop();
+    }
+  });
+
   test("websocket with compression options", () => {
     using server = serve({
       port: 0,