diff --git a/lib/puppet/configurer/fact_handler.rb b/lib/puppet/configurer/fact_handler.rb
index 64f8fb9da9..1cf01fb69f 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/configurer/fact_handler.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/configurer/fact_handler.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
+require_relative '../../puppet/agent'
 require_relative '../../puppet/indirector/facts/facter'
 
 require_relative '../../puppet/configurer'
@@ -20,7 +21,10 @@ def find_facts
       facts.name = Puppet[:node_name_value]
     end
     facts
-  rescue SystemExit, NoMemoryError
+  rescue SystemExit, NoMemoryError, Puppet::Agent::RunTimeoutError
+    # RunTimeoutError means the agent run as a whole has exceeded `runtimeout`.
+    # Let it propagate so the run is aborted instead of wrapping it in a
+    # Puppet::Error and carrying on with the rest of the run.
     raise
   rescue Exception => detail
     message = _("Could not retrieve local facts: %{detail}") % { detail: detail }
diff --git a/spec/unit/configurer/fact_handler_spec.rb b/spec/unit/configurer/fact_handler_spec.rb
index 1acf49c30a..16dc932b8b 100644
--- a/spec/unit/configurer/fact_handler_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/configurer/fact_handler_spec.rb
@@ -58,6 +58,13 @@ def reload_facter
       expect { facthandler.find_facts }.to raise_error(Puppet::Error, /Could not retrieve local facts/)
     end
 
+    it "should re-raise RunTimeoutError so the agent run is aborted" do
+      expect(Puppet::Node::Facts.indirection).to receive(:find).and_raise(Puppet::Agent::RunTimeoutError, 'execution expired')
+      expect(Puppet).not_to receive(:log_exception)
+
+      expect { facthandler.find_facts }.to raise_error(Puppet::Agent::RunTimeoutError, 'execution expired')
+    end
+
     it "should only load fact plugins once" do
       expect(Puppet::Node::Facts.indirection).to receive(:find).once
       facthandler.find_facts