diff --git a/gdb/testsuite/config/unix-gdb.exp b/gdb/testsuite/config/unix-gdb.exp
index 886a0e6188a..6562a8bf02a 100644
--- a/gdb/testsuite/config/unix-gdb.exp
+++ b/gdb/testsuite/config/unix-gdb.exp
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ proc gdb_load { arg } {
     global loadfile
     global GDB
     global prompt
+    upvar timeout timeout
 
     return [gdb_file_cmd $arg]
 }