diff --git a/docs/debugging.md b/docs/debugging.md
index 67af0b05fe..c9c6f20fea 100644
--- a/docs/debugging.md
+++ b/docs/debugging.md
@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@ A working invocation, and the traps around it:
 
 - **The timeouts apply to the whole session**, not per test. `--timeout-wall=N` is real seconds and
   `--timeout-emulated=N` is emulated ones; both default to infinity, both can be set at once, and whichever
-  is reached first ends the run (`TIMEOUT` or `TIMEOUT (emulated)`). `--timeout` is the old name for
+  is reached first ends the run (`TIMEOUT` or `TIMEOUT (emulated)`). With `--state=`, emulated time counts
+  from when the state has loaded: until then the game boots for however long the load takes on the host, so
+  counting from boot made runs end on different frames. `--timeout` is the old name for
   `--timeout-wall`. As soon as you pass one it applies to your whole interactive debugging session too, so
   pass something huge (`--timeout-wall=100000`) or the process exits out from under you mid-session. The
   wall-clock check is skipped while `IsDebuggerPresent()`; the emulated one doesn't need that escape hatch,
diff --git a/headless/Headless.cpp b/headless/Headless.cpp
index 85c028e454..46bee0dd8b 100644
--- a/headless/Headless.cpp
+++ b/headless/Headless.cpp
@@ -547,7 +547,9 @@ static bool RunAutoTest(GraphicsContext *graphicsContext, CoreParameter &corePar
 		const double emulatedNow = CoreTiming::GetGlobalTimeUs() / 1000000.0;
 		const double emulatedStep = emulatedNow - lastEmulatedTime;
 		lastEmulatedTime = emulatedNow;
-		if (emulatedStep > 0.0 && emulatedStep < emulatedStepLimit) {
+		// With --state, count from when the state lands. Until then the game boots, for however long
+		// reading and decompressing the state takes on the host, which made runs end on different frames.
+		if (emulatedStep > 0.0 && emulatedStep < emulatedStepLimit && !g_stateLoadPending) {
 			emulatedElapsed += emulatedStep;
 		}