diff --git a/src/dosbox.cpp b/src/dosbox.cpp
index c00a6b8a..82b2d1fa 100644
--- a/src/dosbox.cpp
+++ b/src/dosbox.cpp
@@ -235,10 +235,16 @@ void increaseticks() { //Make it return ticksRemain and set it in the function a
 			double ratioremoved = (double) CPU_IODelayRemoved / (double) cproc;
 			if (ratioremoved < 1.0) {
 				ratio = (Bit32s)((double)ratio * (1 - ratioremoved));
+
 				/* Don't allow very high ratio which can cause us to lock as we don't scale down
 				 * for very low ratios. High ratio might result because of timing resolution */
-				if (ticksScheduled >= 250 && ticksDone < 10 && ratio > 20480)
-					ratio = 20480;
+				if (ticksScheduled >= 250 && ticksDone < 10 && ratio > 16384)
+					ratio = 16384;
+
+				// Limit the ratio even more when the cycles are already way above the realmode default.
+				if (ticksScheduled >= 250 && ticksDone < 10 && ratio > 5120 && CPU_CycleMax > 50000)
+					ratio = 5120;
+
 				if (ratio <= 1024) {
 					double r = 2.0 /(1.0 + 1024.0/(static_cast<double>(ratio)));
 					new_cmax = 1 + static_cast<Bit32s>(CPU_CycleMax * r);