diff --git a/cli/internal/helm/BUILD.bazel b/cli/internal/helm/BUILD.bazel
index ef5dd8f7e..566faf914 100644
--- a/cli/internal/helm/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/cli/internal/helm/BUILD.bazel
@@ -438,7 +438,6 @@ go_library(
         "//internal/versions",
         "@com_github_pkg_errors//:errors",
         "@io_k8s_apimachinery//pkg/apis/meta/v1:meta",
-        "@io_k8s_apimachinery//pkg/util/wait",
         "@io_k8s_client_go//kubernetes",
         "@io_k8s_client_go//tools/clientcmd",
         "@io_k8s_client_go//util/retry",
@@ -457,6 +456,7 @@ go_test(
     srcs = [
         "helm_test.go",
         "loader_test.go",
+        "retryaction_test.go",
     ],
     data = glob(["testdata/**"]),
     embed = [":helm"],
diff --git a/cli/internal/helm/action.go b/cli/internal/helm/action.go
index 98de35266..621d92b89 100644
--- a/cli/internal/helm/action.go
+++ b/cli/internal/helm/action.go
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	// timeout is the maximum time given per helm action.
-	timeout = 10 * time.Minute
+	timeout            = 10 * time.Minute
+	applyRetryInterval = 30 * time.Second
 )
 
 type applyAction interface {
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ func (a *installAction) Apply(ctx context.Context) error {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
-	if err := retryApply(ctx, a, a.log); err != nil {
+	if err := retryApply(ctx, a, applyRetryInterval, a.log); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -142,7 +143,7 @@ func (a *upgradeAction) Apply(ctx context.Context) error {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
-	if err := retryApply(ctx, a, a.log); err != nil {
+	if err := retryApply(ctx, a, applyRetryInterval, a.log); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	if a.postUpgrade != nil {
diff --git a/cli/internal/helm/retryaction.go b/cli/internal/helm/retryaction.go
index e655e5d27..ca61944b0 100644
--- a/cli/internal/helm/retryaction.go
+++ b/cli/internal/helm/retryaction.go
@@ -9,11 +9,9 @@ package helm
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
-	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/edgelesssys/constellation/v2/internal/retry"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -28,7 +26,7 @@ type retrieableApplier interface {
 }
 
 // retryApply retries the given retriable action.
-func retryApply(ctx context.Context, action retrieableApplier, log debugLog) error {
+func retryApply(ctx context.Context, action retrieableApplier, retryInterval time.Duration, log debugLog) error {
 	var retries int
 	retriable := func(err error) bool {
 		// abort after maximumRetryAttempts tries.
@@ -37,20 +35,14 @@ func retryApply(ctx context.Context, action retrieableApplier, log debugLog) err
 		}
 		retries++
 		// only retry if atomic is set
-		// otherwise helm doesn't uninstall
-		// the release on failure
-		if !action.IsAtomic() {
-			return false
-		}
-		// check if error is retriable
-		return wait.Interrupted(err) ||
-			strings.Contains(err.Error(), "connection refused")
+		// otherwise helm doesn't uninstall the release on failure
+		return action.IsAtomic()
 	}
 	doer := applyDoer{
-		action,
-		log,
+		applier: action,
+		log:     log,
 	}
-	retrier := retry.NewIntervalRetrier(doer, 30*time.Second, retriable)
+	retrier := retry.NewIntervalRetrier(doer, retryInterval, retriable)
 
 	retryLoopStartTime := time.Now()
 	if err := retrier.Do(ctx); err != nil {
@@ -63,15 +55,15 @@ func retryApply(ctx context.Context, action retrieableApplier, log debugLog) err
 
 // applyDoer is a helper struct to enable retrying helm actions.
 type applyDoer struct {
-	Applier retrieableApplier
+	applier retrieableApplier
 	log     debugLog
 }
 
 // Do tries to apply the action.
 func (i applyDoer) Do(ctx context.Context) error {
-	i.log.Debugf("Trying to apply Helm chart %s", i.Applier.ReleaseName())
-	if err := i.Applier.apply(ctx); err != nil {
-		i.log.Debugf("Helm chart installation %s failed: %v", i.Applier.ReleaseName(), err)
+	i.log.Debugf("Trying to apply Helm chart %s", i.applier.ReleaseName())
+	if err := i.applier.apply(ctx); err != nil {
+		i.log.Debugf("Helm chart installation %s failed: %v", i.applier.ReleaseName(), err)
 		return err
 	}
 
diff --git a/cli/internal/helm/retryaction_test.go b/cli/internal/helm/retryaction_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6a39d7cb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/internal/helm/retryaction_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/*
+Copyright (c) Edgeless Systems GmbH
+
+SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
+*/
+
+package helm
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/edgelesssys/constellation/v2/internal/logger"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestRetryApply(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := map[string]struct {
+		applier *stubRetriableApplier
+		wantErr bool
+	}{
+		"success": {
+			applier: &stubRetriableApplier{
+				atomic: true,
+			},
+		},
+		"two errors": {
+			applier: &stubRetriableApplier{
+				applyErrs: []error{
+					assert.AnError,
+					assert.AnError,
+					nil,
+				},
+				atomic: true,
+			},
+		},
+		"retries are aborted after maximumRetryAttempts": {
+			applier: &stubRetriableApplier{
+				applyErrs: []error{
+					assert.AnError,
+					assert.AnError,
+					assert.AnError,
+					assert.AnError,
+				},
+				atomic: true,
+			},
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
+		"non atomic actions are not retried": {
+			applier: &stubRetriableApplier{
+				atomic: false,
+				applyErrs: []error{
+					assert.AnError,
+					assert.AnError,
+					nil,
+				},
+			},
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for name, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			assert := assert.New(t)
+
+			err := retryApply(context.Background(), tc.applier, time.Millisecond, logger.NewTest(t))
+			if tc.wantErr {
+				assert.Error(err)
+			} else {
+				assert.NoError(err)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+type stubRetriableApplier struct {
+	atomic    bool
+	applyErrs []error
+}
+
+func (s *stubRetriableApplier) apply(context.Context) error {
+	if len(s.applyErrs) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// return the first error in the list
+	// and remove it from the list
+	err := s.applyErrs[0]
+	if len(s.applyErrs) > 1 {
+		s.applyErrs = s.applyErrs[1:]
+	} else {
+		s.applyErrs = nil
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+func (s *stubRetriableApplier) ReleaseName() string {
+	return ""
+}
+
+func (s *stubRetriableApplier) IsAtomic() bool {
+	return s.atomic
+}