diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 24d070b..78c09e5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ Error codes are as followed:
 
 ### Retries
 
-Certain errors are automatically retried 3 times by default, with a short exponential backoff.
+Certain errors are automatically retried 2 times by default, with a short exponential backoff.
 Connection errors (for example, due to a network connectivity problem), 408 Request Timeout, 409 Conflict,
 429 Rate Limit, and >=500 Internal errors are all retried by default.
 
diff --git a/src/dataherald/_constants.py b/src/dataherald/_constants.py
index 036f4f7..bf15141 100644
--- a/src/dataherald/_constants.py
+++ b/src/dataherald/_constants.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 # default timeout is 1 minute
 DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = httpx.Timeout(timeout=60.0, connect=5.0)
-DEFAULT_MAX_RETRIES = 3
+DEFAULT_MAX_RETRIES = 2
 DEFAULT_LIMITS = httpx.Limits(max_connections=100, max_keepalive_connections=20)
 
 INITIAL_RETRY_DELAY = 0.5
diff --git a/tests/test_client.py b/tests/test_client.py
index 05697fe..a839e4d 100644
--- a/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_client.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ def test_copy_default_options(self) -> None:
         # options that have a default are overridden correctly
         copied = self.client.copy(max_retries=7)
         assert copied.max_retries == 7
-        assert self.client.max_retries == 3
+        assert self.client.max_retries == 2
 
         copied2 = copied.copy(max_retries=6)
         assert copied2.max_retries == 6
@@ -763,7 +763,7 @@ def test_copy_default_options(self) -> None:
         # options that have a default are overridden correctly
         copied = self.client.copy(max_retries=7)
         assert copied.max_retries == 7
-        assert self.client.max_retries == 3
+        assert self.client.max_retries == 2
 
         copied2 = copied.copy(max_retries=6)
         assert copied2.max_retries == 6