diff --git a/.github/workflows/CI-unixish.yml b/.github/workflows/CI-unixish.yml
index 10cbf319d..856229f6d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/CI-unixish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/CI-unixish.yml
@@ -334,6 +334,7 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           python3 -m pip install pip --upgrade
           python3 -m pip install pytest
+          python3 -m pip install pytest-timeout
 
       - name: Build cppcheck
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/CI-windows.yml b/.github/workflows/CI-windows.yml
index 98df86f85..0b9155716 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/CI-windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/CI-windows.yml
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ jobs:
           python -m pip install pip --upgrade || exit /b !errorlevel!
           python -m pip install pytest || exit /b !errorlevel!
           python -m pip install pytest-custom_exit_code || exit /b !errorlevel!
+          python -m pip install pytest-timeout || exit /b !errorlevel!
 
       - name: Run CMake
         if: false # TODO: enable
diff --git a/lib/astutils.cpp b/lib/astutils.cpp
index 53de61dcc..d4232de0b 100644
--- a/lib/astutils.cpp
+++ b/lib/astutils.cpp
@@ -1465,6 +1465,8 @@ bool isUsedAsBool(const Token* const tok, const Settings* settings)
     if (isForLoopCondition(tok))
         return true;
     if (!Token::Match(parent, "%cop%")) {
+        if (parent->str() == "," && parent->isInitComma())
+            return false;
         std::vector<ValueType> vtParents = getParentValueTypes(tok, settings);
         return std::any_of(vtParents.cbegin(), vtParents.cend(), [&](const ValueType& vt) {
             return vt.pointer == 0 && vt.type == ValueType::BOOL;
diff --git a/lib/token.h b/lib/token.h
index dfd601a76..e50fbec9a 100644
--- a/lib/token.h
+++ b/lib/token.h
@@ -684,6 +684,13 @@ public:
         setFlag(fIsFinalType, b);
     }
 
+    bool isInitComma() const {
+        return getFlag(fIsInitComma);
+    }
+    void isInitComma(bool b) {
+        setFlag(fIsInitComma, b);
+    }
+
     bool isBitfield() const {
         return mImpl->mBits > 0;
     }
@@ -1307,14 +1314,14 @@ private:
         fIsAttributePacked      = (1ULL << 15), // __attribute__((packed))
         fIsAttributeExport      = (1ULL << 16), // __attribute__((__visibility__("default"))), __declspec(dllexport)
         fIsAttributeMaybeUnused = (1ULL << 17), // [[maybe_unsed]]
-        fIsControlFlowKeyword   = (1ULL << 18), // if/switch/while/...
-        fIsOperatorKeyword      = (1ULL << 19), // operator=, etc
-        fIsComplex              = (1ULL << 20), // complex/_Complex type
-        fIsEnumType             = (1ULL << 21), // enumeration type
-        fIsName                 = (1ULL << 22),
-        fIsLiteral              = (1ULL << 23),
-        fIsTemplateArg          = (1ULL << 24),
-        fIsAttributeNodiscard   = (1ULL << 25), // __attribute__ ((warn_unused_result)), [[nodiscard]]
+        fIsAttributeNodiscard   = (1ULL << 18), // __attribute__ ((warn_unused_result)), [[nodiscard]]
+        fIsControlFlowKeyword   = (1ULL << 19), // if/switch/while/...
+        fIsOperatorKeyword      = (1ULL << 20), // operator=, etc
+        fIsComplex              = (1ULL << 21), // complex/_Complex type
+        fIsEnumType             = (1ULL << 22), // enumeration type
+        fIsName                 = (1ULL << 23),
+        fIsLiteral              = (1ULL << 24),
+        fIsTemplateArg          = (1ULL << 25),
         fAtAddress              = (1ULL << 26), // @ 0x4000
         fIncompleteVar          = (1ULL << 27),
         fConstexpr              = (1ULL << 28),
@@ -1331,6 +1338,7 @@ private:
         fIsAtomic               = (1ULL << 39), // Is this a _Atomic declaration
         fIsSimplifiedTypedef    = (1ULL << 40),
         fIsFinalType            = (1ULL << 41), // Is this a type with final specifier
+        fIsInitComma            = (1ULL << 42), // Is this comma located inside some {..}. i.e: {1,2,3,4}
     };
 
     enum : uint64_t {
diff --git a/lib/valueflow.cpp b/lib/valueflow.cpp
index b97389fe9..6a249fb2c 100644
--- a/lib/valueflow.cpp
+++ b/lib/valueflow.cpp
@@ -605,7 +605,6 @@ static ValueFlow::Value truncateImplicitConversion(Token* parent, const ValueFlo
 static void setTokenValue(Token* tok,
                           ValueFlow::Value value,
                           const Settings* settings,
-                          bool isInitList = false,
                           SourceLocation loc = SourceLocation::current())
 {
     // Skip setting values that are too big since its ambiguous
@@ -629,7 +628,7 @@ static void setTokenValue(Token* tok,
     if (!parent)
         return;
 
-    if (!isInitList && Token::simpleMatch(parent, ",") && astIsRHS(tok)) {
+    if (Token::simpleMatch(parent, ",") && !parent->isInitComma() && astIsRHS(tok)) {
         const Token* callParent = findParent(parent, [](const Token* p) {
             return !Token::simpleMatch(p, ",");
         });
@@ -947,7 +946,7 @@ static void setTokenValue(Token* tok,
                     if (Token::simpleMatch(parent, "-") && value2.bound == result.bound &&
                         value2.bound != ValueFlow::Value::Bound::Point)
                         result.invertBound();
-                    setTokenValue(parent, result, settings, isInitList);
+                    setTokenValue(parent, result, settings);
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -1131,7 +1130,7 @@ size_t ValueFlow::getSizeOf(const ValueType &vt, const Settings *settings)
 static bool getMinMaxValues(const ValueType* vt, const cppcheck::Platform& platform, MathLib::bigint& minValue, MathLib::bigint& maxValue);
 
 // Handle various constants..
-static Token * valueFlowSetConstantValue(Token *tok, const Settings *settings, bool cpp, bool isInitList = false)
+static Token * valueFlowSetConstantValue(Token *tok, const Settings *settings, bool cpp)
 {
     if ((tok->isNumber() && MathLib::isInt(tok->str())) || (tok->tokType() == Token::eChar)) {
         try {
@@ -1145,7 +1144,7 @@ static Token * valueFlowSetConstantValue(Token *tok, const Settings *settings, b
             ValueFlow::Value value(signedValue);
             if (!tok->isTemplateArg())
                 value.setKnown();
-            setTokenValue(tok, std::move(value), settings, isInitList);
+            setTokenValue(tok, std::move(value), settings);
         } catch (const std::exception & /*e*/) {
             // Bad character literal
         }
@@ -1155,17 +1154,17 @@ static Token * valueFlowSetConstantValue(Token *tok, const Settings *settings, b
         value.floatValue = MathLib::toDoubleNumber(tok->str());
         if (!tok->isTemplateArg())
             value.setKnown();
-        setTokenValue(tok, std::move(value), settings, isInitList);
+        setTokenValue(tok, std::move(value), settings);
     } else if (tok->enumerator() && tok->enumerator()->value_known) {
         ValueFlow::Value value(tok->enumerator()->value);
         if (!tok->isTemplateArg())
             value.setKnown();
-        setTokenValue(tok, std::move(value), settings, isInitList);
+        setTokenValue(tok, std::move(value), settings);
     } else if (tok->str() == "NULL" || (cpp && tok->str() == "nullptr")) {
         ValueFlow::Value value(0);
         if (!tok->isTemplateArg())
             value.setKnown();
-        setTokenValue(tok, std::move(value), settings, isInitList);
+        setTokenValue(tok, std::move(value), settings);
     } else if (Token::simpleMatch(tok, "sizeof (")) {
         if (tok->next()->astOperand2() && !tok->next()->astOperand2()->isLiteral() && tok->next()->astOperand2()->valueType() &&
             (tok->next()->astOperand2()->valueType()->pointer == 0 || // <- TODO this is a bailout, abort when there are array->pointer conversions
@@ -1333,17 +1332,17 @@ static Token * valueFlowSetConstantValue(Token *tok, const Settings *settings, b
         ValueFlow::Value value(0);
         if (!tok->isTemplateArg())
             value.setKnown();
-        setTokenValue(tok->next(), std::move(value), settings, isInitList);
+        setTokenValue(tok->next(), std::move(value), settings);
     } else if (Token::Match(tok, "%name% = {") && tok->variable() &&
                (tok->variable()->isPointer() || (tok->variable()->valueType() && tok->variable()->valueType()->isIntegral()))) {
         if (Token::simpleMatch(tok->tokAt(3), "}")) {
             ValueFlow::Value value(0);
             value.setKnown();
-            setTokenValue(tok->tokAt(2), std::move(value), settings, isInitList);
+            setTokenValue(tok->tokAt(2), std::move(value), settings);
         } else if (tok->tokAt(2)->astOperand1() && tok->tokAt(2)->astOperand1()->hasKnownIntValue()) {
             ValueFlow::Value value(tok->tokAt(2)->astOperand1()->getKnownIntValue());
             value.setKnown();
-            setTokenValue(tok->tokAt(2), std::move(value), settings, isInitList);
+            setTokenValue(tok->tokAt(2), std::move(value), settings);
         }
     }
     return tok->next();
@@ -1351,16 +1350,8 @@ static Token * valueFlowSetConstantValue(Token *tok, const Settings *settings, b
 
 static void valueFlowNumber(TokenList &tokenlist, const Settings* settings)
 {
-    bool isInitList = false;
-    const Token* endInit{};
     for (Token *tok = tokenlist.front(); tok;) {
-        if (!isInitList && tok->str() == "{" && (Token::simpleMatch(tok->astOperand1(), ",") || Token::simpleMatch(tok->astOperand2(), ","))) {
-            isInitList = true;
-            endInit = tok->link();
-        }
-        tok = valueFlowSetConstantValue(tok, settings, tokenlist.isCPP(), isInitList);
-        if (isInitList && tok == endInit)
-            isInitList = false;
+        tok = valueFlowSetConstantValue(tok, settings, tokenlist.isCPP());
     }
 
     if (tokenlist.isCPP()) {
@@ -9466,6 +9457,18 @@ void ValueFlow::setValues(TokenList& tokenlist,
     for (Token* tok = tokenlist.front(); tok; tok = tok->next())
         tok->clearValueFlow();
 
+    // commas in init..
+    for (Token* tok = tokenlist.front(); tok; tok = tok->next()) {
+        if (tok->str() != "{" || !tok->astOperand1())
+            continue;
+        for (Token* tok2 = tok->next(); tok2 != tok->link(); tok2 = tok2->next()) {
+            if (tok2->link() && Token::Match(tok2, "[{[(<]"))
+                tok2 = tok2->link();
+            else if (tok2->str() == ",")
+                tok2->isInitComma(true);
+        }
+    }
+
     ValueFlowPassRunner runner{ValueFlowState{tokenlist, symboldatabase, errorLogger, settings}, timerResults};
     runner.run_once({
         VFA(valueFlowEnumValue(symboldatabase, settings)),
diff --git a/test/cli/test-other.py b/test/cli/test-other.py
index a630699a1..360637ad5 100644
--- a/test/cli/test-other.py
+++ b/test/cli/test-other.py
@@ -141,3 +141,16 @@ def test_progress_j(tmpdir):
     assert exitcode == 0
     assert stdout == "Checking {} ...\n".format(test_file)
     assert stderr == ""
+
+
+@pytest.mark.timeout(10)
+def test_slow_array_many_strings(tmpdir):
+    # 11901
+    # cppcheck valueflow takes a long time when analyzing a file with many strings
+    filename = os.path.join(tmpdir, 'hang.c')
+    with open(filename, 'wt') as f:
+        f.write("const char *strings[] = {\n")
+        for i in range(20000):
+            f.write('    "abc",\n')
+        f.write("};\n")
+    cppcheck([filename]) # should not take more than ~1 second