diff --git a/roles/postgres/replica/final/defaults/main.yml b/roles/postgres/replica/final/defaults/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2c3b8edbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/postgres/replica/final/defaults/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+---
+
+# © Copyright EnterpriseDB UK Limited 2015-2025 - All rights reserved.
+
+## pg_basebackup timeout for cloning replicas
+#
+# For large databases, pg_basebackup can take multiple hours to complete.
+# This timeout value (in seconds) determines how long to wait for the
+# pg_basebackup operation to complete.
+#
+# Default: 14400 seconds (4 hours)
+# For very large databases, increase this value as needed (e.g., 28800 for 8 hours)
+
+pg_basebackup_timeout: 14400
diff --git a/roles/postgres/replica/final/tasks/clone.yml b/roles/postgres/replica/final/tasks/clone.yml
index d990d02b2..db82e5e5b 100644
--- a/roles/postgres/replica/final/tasks/clone.yml
+++ b/roles/postgres/replica/final/tasks/clone.yml
@@ -39,12 +39,27 @@
     extra_option: "{{ waldir_option if pg_wal_dir_outside_pgdata else '' }}"
   become_user: "{{ postgres_user }}"
   become: true
-  register: this
-  failed_when:
-    this.rc != 0 or 'error' in this.stderr
+  async: "{{ pg_basebackup_timeout }}"
+  poll: 0
+  register: pg_basebackup_job
   when:
     task_selector|selects('postgres', 'replica')
 
+- name: Wait for pg_basebackup to complete
+  async_status:
+    jid: "{{ pg_basebackup_job.ansible_job_id }}"
+  become_user: "{{ postgres_user }}"
+  become: true
+  register: pg_basebackup_result
+  until: pg_basebackup_result.finished
+  retries: "{{ [(pg_basebackup_timeout / 10) | int, 1] | max }}"
+  delay: 10
+  failed_when:
+    pg_basebackup_result.rc != 0 or 'error' in (pg_basebackup_result.stderr | default(''))
+  when:
+    - task_selector|selects('postgres', 'replica')
+    - pg_basebackup_job is defined
+
 # If we are cloning an instance with postgres_conf_dir separated from
 # postgres_data_dir, we copy its configuration files to the replica's
 # postgres_conf_dir (which may or may not be the same as PGDATA, and