diff --git a/examples/data_structures/Makefile b/examples/data_structures/Makefile
index aa49d0c05f3..ed3c2949ce4 100755
--- a/examples/data_structures/Makefile
+++ b/examples/data_structures/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 VERFILES=array-realized.fst vectors.fst
 #rbtree.fst -- currently disabled
 include ../Makefile.include
-all: .all.ver bst rbtree
+all: .all.ver bst
+# rbtree -- this fails often on some machines even with timeout 30
 
 bst: binary_search_tree.fulllib.ver