diff --git a/subsys/shell/shell.c b/subsys/shell/shell.c
index 0032fed7f789..8ce5f9c3afb8 100644
--- a/subsys/shell/shell.c
+++ b/subsys/shell/shell.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 	"WARNING: A print request was detected on not active shell backend.\n"
 #define SHELL_MSG_TOO_MANY_ARGS		"Too many arguments in the command.\n"
 #define SHELL_INIT_OPTION_PRINTER	(NULL)
+#define SHELL_TX_MTX_TIMEOUT_MS		50
 
 #define SHELL_THREAD_PRIORITY \
 	COND_CODE_1(CONFIG_SHELL_THREAD_PRIORITY_OVERRIDE, \
@@ -1350,7 +1351,9 @@ void shell_thread(void *shell_handle, void *arg_log_backend,
 			     K_FOREVER);
 
 		if (err != 0) {
-			k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_FOREVER);
+			if (k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_MSEC(SHELL_TX_MTX_TIMEOUT_MS)) != 0) {
+				return;
+			}
 			z_shell_fprintf(sh, SHELL_ERROR,
 					"Shell thread error: %d", err);
 			k_mutex_unlock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx);
@@ -1441,7 +1444,9 @@ int shell_start(const struct shell *sh)
 		z_shell_log_backend_enable(sh->log_backend, (void *)sh, sh->ctx->log_level);
 	}
 
-	k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_FOREVER);
+	if (k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_MSEC(SHELL_TX_MTX_TIMEOUT_MS)) != 0) {
+		return -EBUSY;
+	}
 
 	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_SHELL_VT100_COLORS)) {
 		z_shell_vt100_color_set(sh, SHELL_NORMAL);
@@ -1543,7 +1548,10 @@ void shell_vfprintf(const struct shell *sh, enum shell_vt100_color color,
 		return;
 	}
 
-	k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_FOREVER);
+	if (k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_MSEC(SHELL_TX_MTX_TIMEOUT_MS)) != 0) {
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if (!z_flag_cmd_ctx_get(sh) && !sh->ctx->bypass && z_flag_use_vt100_get(sh)) {
 		z_shell_cmd_line_erase(sh);
 	}
@@ -1552,6 +1560,7 @@ void shell_vfprintf(const struct shell *sh, enum shell_vt100_color color,
 		z_shell_print_prompt_and_cmd(sh);
 	}
 	z_transport_buffer_flush(sh);
+
 	k_mutex_unlock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx);
 }
 
@@ -1677,10 +1686,9 @@ int shell_prompt_change(const struct shell *sh, const char *prompt)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
-	static const size_t mtx_timeout_ms = 20;
 	size_t prompt_length = z_shell_strlen(prompt);
 
-	if (k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_MSEC(mtx_timeout_ms))) {
+	if (k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_MSEC(SHELL_TX_MTX_TIMEOUT_MS)) != 0) {
 		return -EBUSY;
 	}
 
@@ -1703,7 +1711,9 @@ int shell_prompt_change(const struct shell *sh, const char *prompt)
 
 void shell_help(const struct shell *sh)
 {
-	k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_FOREVER);
+	if (k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_MSEC(SHELL_TX_MTX_TIMEOUT_MS)) != 0) {
+		return;
+	}
 	shell_internal_help_print(sh);
 	k_mutex_unlock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx);
 }
@@ -1736,7 +1746,9 @@ int shell_execute_cmd(const struct shell *sh, const char *cmd)
 	sh->ctx->cmd_buff_len = cmd_len;
 	sh->ctx->cmd_buff_pos = cmd_len;
 
-	k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_FOREVER);
+	if (k_mutex_lock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx, K_MSEC(SHELL_TX_MTX_TIMEOUT_MS)) != 0) {
+		return -ENOEXEC;
+	}
 	ret_val = execute(sh);
 	k_mutex_unlock(&sh->ctx->wr_mtx);