diff --git a/src/material/snack-bar/snack-bar-ref.ts b/src/material/snack-bar/snack-bar-ref.ts
index e8f8d800c4f7..adc03a7c267d 100644
--- a/src/material/snack-bar/snack-bar-ref.ts
+++ b/src/material/snack-bar/snack-bar-ref.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ export interface MatSnackBarDismiss {
   dismissedByAction: boolean;
 }
 
+/** Maximum amount of milliseconds that can be passed into setTimeout. */
+const MAX_TIMEOUT = Math.pow(2, 31) - 1;
+
 /**
  * Reference to a snack bar dispatched from the snack bar service.
  */
@@ -85,7 +88,9 @@ export class MatSnackBarRef<T> {
 
   /** Dismisses the snack bar after some duration */
   _dismissAfter(duration: number): void {
-    this._durationTimeoutId = setTimeout(() => this.dismiss(), duration);
+    // Note that we need to cap the duration to the maximum value for setTimeout, because
+    // it'll revert to 1 if somebody passes in something greater (e.g. `Infinity`). See #17234.
+    this._durationTimeoutId = setTimeout(() => this.dismiss(), Math.min(duration, MAX_TIMEOUT));
   }
 
   /** Marks the snackbar as opened */
diff --git a/src/material/snack-bar/snack-bar.spec.ts b/src/material/snack-bar/snack-bar.spec.ts
index 1faf57d95bab..4435dd0ed0b9 100644
--- a/src/material/snack-bar/snack-bar.spec.ts
+++ b/src/material/snack-bar/snack-bar.spec.ts
@@ -496,6 +496,19 @@ describe('MatSnackBar', () => {
     expect(overlayContainerElement.childElementCount).toBe(0);
   }));
 
+  it('should cap the timeout to the maximum accepted delay in setTimeout', fakeAsync(() => {
+    const config = new MatSnackBarConfig();
+    config.duration = Infinity;
+    snackBar.open('content', 'test', config);
+    viewContainerFixture.detectChanges();
+    spyOn(window, 'setTimeout').and.callThrough();
+    tick(100);
+
+    expect(window.setTimeout).toHaveBeenCalledWith(jasmine.any(Function), Math.pow(2, 31) - 1);
+
+    flush();
+  }));
+
   describe('with custom component', () => {
     it('should open a custom component', () => {
       const snackBarRef = snackBar.openFromComponent(BurritosNotification);