diff --git a/future.ml b/future.ml
index 1fab5436..ca8eddb7 100644
--- a/future.ml
+++ b/future.ml
@@ -619,11 +619,9 @@ module Timer = struct
   } (** A timer for events *)
 
   let cmp_tasks (f1,_) (f2,_) =
-    if f1 < f2 then -1
-    else if f1 > f2 then 1
-    else 0
+    compare f1 f2
 
-  let standby_wait = 300.   (* when no task is scheduled *)
+  let standby_wait = 30.    (* when no task is scheduled *)
   let epsilon = 0.0001      (* accepted time diff for actions *)
 
   (** Wait for next event, run it, and loop *)
diff --git a/tests/test_future.ml b/tests/test_future.ml
index 0c7b5a93..ce7420b4 100644
--- a/tests/test_future.ml
+++ b/tests/test_future.ml
@@ -31,9 +31,21 @@ let test_time () =
   OUnit.assert_bool "parallelism" (stop -. start < 0.75);
   ()
 
+let test_timer () =
+  let timer = Future.Timer.create () in
+  let mvar = Future.MVar.full 1 in
+  Future.Timer.schedule_in timer 0.5
+    (fun () -> ignore (Future.MVar.update mvar (fun x -> x + 2)));
+  Future.Timer.schedule_in timer 0.2
+    (fun () -> ignore (Future.MVar.update mvar (fun x -> x * 4)));
+  Thread.delay 0.7;
+  OUnit.assert_equal 6 (Future.MVar.peek mvar);
+  ()
+
 let suite =
   "test_future" >:::
     [ "test_mvar" >:: test_mvar;
       "test_parallel" >:: test_parallel;
       "test_time" >:: test_time;
+      "test_timer" >:: test_timer;
     ]