diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go
index 27c8f852f79..5e37114d386 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun.go
@@ -184,6 +184,11 @@ func (c *Reconciler) ReconcileKind(ctx context.Context, tr *v1.TaskRun) pkgrecon
 	// Check if the TaskRun has timed out; if it is, this will set its status
 	// accordingly.
 	if tr.HasTimedOut(ctx, c.Clock) {
+		// Before failing the TaskRun, ensure step statuses are populated from the pod
+		// This prevents a race condition where the timeout occurs before pod status is fetched
+		if err := c.updateStepStatusesFromPod(ctx, tr); err != nil {
+			logger.Warnf("Failed to update step statuses from pod before timeout: %v", err)
+		}
 		message := fmt.Sprintf("TaskRun %q failed to finish within %q", tr.Name, tr.GetTimeout(ctx))
 		err := c.failTaskRun(ctx, tr, v1.TaskRunReasonTimedOut, message)
 		return c.finishReconcileUpdateEmitEvents(ctx, tr, before, err)
@@ -821,6 +826,37 @@ func (c *Reconciler) failTaskRun(ctx context.Context, tr *v1.TaskRun, reason v1.
 	return nil
 }
 
+// updateStepStatusesFromPod fetches the pod and updates step statuses in the TaskRun
+// This is called before failing a TaskRun to ensure step statuses are populated
+func (c *Reconciler) updateStepStatusesFromPod(ctx context.Context, tr *v1.TaskRun) error {
+	logger := logging.FromContext(ctx)
+
+	// If there's no pod yet, nothing to update
+	if tr.Status.PodName == "" {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Fetch the pod
+	pod, err := c.podLister.Pods(tr.Namespace).Get(tr.Status.PodName)
+	if k8serrors.IsNotFound(err) {
+		// Pod doesn't exist yet, nothing to update
+		return nil
+	} else if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Update step statuses from pod using the existing MakeTaskRunStatus function
+	// This ensures consistency with the normal reconciliation path
+	status, err := podconvert.MakeTaskRunStatus(ctx, logger, *tr, pod, c.KubeClientSet, tr.Status.TaskSpec)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Only update the Steps field to avoid overwriting other status fields
+	tr.Status.Steps = status.Steps
+	return nil
+}
+
 // terminateStepsInPod updates step states for TaskRun on TaskRun object since pod has been deleted for cancel or timeout
 func terminateStepsInPod(tr *v1.TaskRun, taskRunReason v1.TaskRunReason) {
 	for i, step := range tr.Status.Steps {
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun_test.go b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun_test.go
index 5d8c44f930f..69e60638ebf 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun_test.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun_test.go
@@ -1345,6 +1345,9 @@ spec:
     name: test-task
 status:
   podName: the-pod
+  taskSpec:
+    steps:
+    - image: foo
 `)
 	taskRun.Status.StartTime = &metav1.Time{Time: startTime}
 	d := test.Data{
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun_timeout_test.go b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun_timeout_test.go
index 3d1a8c7fb47..712979a63d7 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun_timeout_test.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/taskrun/taskrun_timeout_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package taskrun
 
 import (
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
 	"github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/pkg/apis/config"
@@ -37,6 +38,125 @@ import (
 	_ "knative.dev/pkg/system/testing" // Setup system.Namespace()
 )
 
+// TestReconcileTimeoutWithEmptyStepStatus tests that when a TaskRun times out
+// and tr.Status.Steps is empty (race condition), the reconciler populates
+// step statuses from the pod before terminating them.
+func TestReconcileTimeoutWithEmptyStepStatus(t *testing.T) {
+	task := parse.MustParseV1Task(t, `
+metadata:
+  name: test-task
+  namespace: foo
+spec:
+  steps:
+  - name: step1
+    image: busybox
+  - name: step2
+    image: busybox
+`)
+
+	taskRun := parse.MustParseV1TaskRun(t, `
+metadata:
+  name: test-taskrun-timeout-empty-steps
+  namespace: foo
+spec:
+  taskRef:
+    name: test-task
+  timeout: 1s
+status:
+  conditions:
+  - status: Unknown
+    type: Succeeded
+  startTime: "2021-12-31T23:59:58Z"
+  podName: test-taskrun-timeout-empty-steps-pod
+`)
+	// In a real scenario, TaskSpec would have been set during pod creation in a previous reconcile
+	taskRun.Status.TaskSpec = &task.Spec
+
+	// Create a pod with running step containers
+	// This simulates a pod that exists but hasn't had its status synced to the TaskRun yet
+	pod := &corev1.Pod{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Namespace: "foo",
+			Name:      "test-taskrun-timeout-empty-steps-pod",
+		},
+		Status: corev1.PodStatus{
+			Phase: corev1.PodRunning,
+			ContainerStatuses: []corev1.ContainerStatus{
+				{
+					Name: "step-step1",
+					State: corev1.ContainerState{
+						Running: &corev1.ContainerStateRunning{
+							StartedAt: metav1.Time{Time: testClock.Now().Add(-30 * time.Second)},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					Name: "step-step2",
+					State: corev1.ContainerState{
+						Waiting: &corev1.ContainerStateWaiting{
+							Reason: "PodInitializing",
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	d := test.Data{
+		TaskRuns: []*v1.TaskRun{taskRun},
+		Tasks:    []*v1.Task{task},
+		Pods:     []*corev1.Pod{pod},
+	}
+
+	testAssets, cancel := getTaskRunController(t, d)
+	defer cancel()
+	c := testAssets.Controller
+	clients := testAssets.Clients
+
+	if err := c.Reconciler.Reconcile(testAssets.Ctx, getRunName(taskRun)); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected error when reconciling timed out TaskRun: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	reconciledRun, err := clients.Pipeline.TektonV1().TaskRuns("foo").Get(testAssets.Ctx, "test-taskrun-timeout-empty-steps", metav1.GetOptions{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error getting reconciled TaskRun: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Verify the TaskRun is marked as timed out
+	condition := reconciledRun.Status.GetCondition(apis.ConditionSucceeded)
+	if condition == nil || condition.Status != corev1.ConditionFalse {
+		t.Errorf("Expected TaskRun to be failed, got condition: %v", condition)
+	}
+	if condition != nil && condition.Reason != v1.TaskRunReasonTimedOut.String() {
+		t.Errorf("Expected TaskRun reason to be %s, got %s", v1.TaskRunReasonTimedOut.String(), condition.Reason)
+	}
+
+	// Verify that step statuses are populated and terminated
+	if len(reconciledRun.Status.Steps) == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("Expected step statuses to be populated, but got empty Steps array")
+	}
+
+	if len(reconciledRun.Status.Steps) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected 2 steps, got %d", len(reconciledRun.Status.Steps))
+	}
+
+	// Verify all steps are terminated with TimedOut reason
+	for i, step := range reconciledRun.Status.Steps {
+		if step.Terminated == nil {
+			t.Errorf("Step %d (%s) should have Terminated status, but it's nil", i, step.Name)
+			continue
+		}
+		if step.Terminated.Reason != v1.TaskRunReasonTimedOut.String() {
+			t.Errorf("Step %d (%s) should have reason %s, got %s",
+				i, step.Name, v1.TaskRunReasonTimedOut.String(), step.Terminated.Reason)
+		}
+		if step.TerminationReason != v1.TaskRunReasonTimedOut.String() {
+			t.Errorf("Step %d (%s) should have TerminationReason %s, got %s",
+				i, step.Name, v1.TaskRunReasonTimedOut.String(), step.TerminationReason)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestFailTaskRun_Timeout(t *testing.T) {
 	testCases := []struct {
 		name           string