diff --git a/src/event/Thread.cxx b/src/event/Thread.cxx
index 053b3559f..bad2ad1ba 100644
--- a/src/event/Thread.cxx
+++ b/src/event/Thread.cxx
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include "config.h"
 #include "Thread.hxx"
 #include "thread/Name.hxx"
+#include "thread/Slack.hxx"
 #include "thread/Util.hxx"
 #include "Log.hxx"
 
@@ -46,6 +47,8 @@ EventThread::Run() noexcept
 	SetThreadName(realtime ? "rtio" : "io");
 
 	if (realtime) {
+		SetThreadTimerSlackUS(10);
+
 		try {
 			SetThreadRealtime();
 		} catch (...) {