diff --git a/cmd/restic/global.go b/cmd/restic/global.go
index d0facc674..c954a4270 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/global.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/global.go
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ func OpenRepository(ctx context.Context, opts GlobalOptions) (*repository.Reposi
 	success := func(msg string, retries int) {
 		Warnf("%v operation successful after %d retries\n", msg, retries)
 	}
-	be = retry.New(be, 10, report, success)
+	be = retry.New(be, 15*time.Minute, report, success)
 
 	// wrap backend if a test specified a hook
 	if opts.backendTestHook != nil {
diff --git a/internal/backend/retry/backend_retry.go b/internal/backend/retry/backend_retry.go
index c6815413c..fb2e6cf98 100644
--- a/internal/backend/retry/backend_retry.go
+++ b/internal/backend/retry/backend_retry.go
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ import (
 // backoff.
 type Backend struct {
 	backend.Backend
-	MaxTries int
-	Report   func(string, error, time.Duration)
-	Success  func(string, int)
+	MaxElapsedTime time.Duration
+	Report         func(string, error, time.Duration)
+	Success        func(string, int)
 
 	failedLoads sync.Map
 }
@@ -32,12 +32,12 @@ var _ backend.Backend = &Backend{}
 // backoff. report is called with a description and the error, if one occurred.
 // success is called with the number of retries before a successful operation
 // (it is not called if it succeeded on the first try)
-func New(be backend.Backend, maxTries int, report func(string, error, time.Duration), success func(string, int)) *Backend {
+func New(be backend.Backend, maxElapsedTime time.Duration, report func(string, error, time.Duration), success func(string, int)) *Backend {
 	return &Backend{
-		Backend:  be,
-		MaxTries: maxTries,
-		Report:   report,
-		Success:  success,
+		Backend:        be,
+		MaxElapsedTime: maxElapsedTime,
+		Report:         report,
+		Success:        success,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -82,9 +82,15 @@ func (be *Backend) retry(ctx context.Context, msg string, f func() error) error
 	}
 
 	bo := backoff.NewExponentialBackOff()
+	bo.MaxElapsedTime = be.MaxElapsedTime
+
 	if fastRetries {
 		// speed up integration tests
 		bo.InitialInterval = 1 * time.Millisecond
+		maxElapsedTime := 200 * time.Millisecond
+		if bo.MaxElapsedTime > maxElapsedTime {
+			bo.MaxElapsedTime = maxElapsedTime
+		}
 	}
 
 	err := retryNotifyErrorWithSuccess(
@@ -97,7 +103,7 @@ func (be *Backend) retry(ctx context.Context, msg string, f func() error) error
 			}
 			return err
 		},
-		backoff.WithContext(backoff.WithMaxRetries(bo, uint64(be.MaxTries)), ctx),
+		backoff.WithContext(bo, ctx),
 		func(err error, d time.Duration) {
 			if be.Report != nil {
 				be.Report(msg, err, d)
diff --git a/internal/backend/retry/backend_retry_test.go b/internal/backend/retry/backend_retry_test.go
index de86e6cf6..ce0b99637 100644
--- a/internal/backend/retry/backend_retry_test.go
+++ b/internal/backend/retry/backend_retry_test.go
@@ -193,8 +193,9 @@ func TestBackendListRetryErrorBackend(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	TestFastRetries(t)
-	const maxRetries = 2
-	retryBackend := New(be, maxRetries, nil, nil)
+	const maxElapsedTime = 10 * time.Millisecond
+	now := time.Now()
+	retryBackend := New(be, maxElapsedTime, nil, nil)
 
 	var listed []string
 	err := retryBackend.List(context.TODO(), backend.PackFile, func(fi backend.FileInfo) error {
@@ -207,8 +208,9 @@ func TestBackendListRetryErrorBackend(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("wrong error returned, want %v, got %v", ErrBackendTest, err)
 	}
 
-	if retries != maxRetries+1 {
-		t.Fatalf("List was called %d times, wanted %v", retries, maxRetries+1)
+	duration := time.Since(now)
+	if duration > 100*time.Millisecond {
+		t.Fatalf("list retries took %v, expected at most 10ms", duration)
 	}
 
 	test.Equals(t, names[:2], listed)
@@ -327,7 +329,7 @@ func TestBackendLoadCircuitBreaker(t *testing.T) {
 	// trip the circuit breaker for file "other"
 	err := retryBackend.Load(context.TODO(), backend.Handle{Name: "other"}, 0, 0, nilRd)
 	test.Equals(t, otherError, err, "unexpected error")
-	test.Equals(t, 3, attempt)
+	test.Equals(t, 2, attempt)
 
 	attempt = 0
 	err = retryBackend.Load(context.TODO(), backend.Handle{Name: "other"}, 0, 0, nilRd)
@@ -407,7 +409,7 @@ func TestBackendRetryPermanent(t *testing.T) {
 		return errors.New("something")
 	})
 	test.Assert(t, !be.IsPermanentErrorFn(err), "error unexpectedly considered permanent %v", err)
-	test.Equals(t, 3, attempt)
+	test.Equals(t, 2, attempt)
 
 }