diff --git a/common/lib/dependabot/shared_helpers.rb b/common/lib/dependabot/shared_helpers.rb
index b2b7f8ffbb0..6068c33b0c0 100644
--- a/common/lib/dependabot/shared_helpers.rb
+++ b/common/lib/dependabot/shared_helpers.rb
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ def self.excon_defaults(options = nil)
         connect_timeout: 5,
         write_timeout: 5,
         read_timeout: 20,
+        retry_limit: 4, # Excon defaults to four retries, but let's set it explicitly for clarity
         omit_default_port: true,
         middlewares: excon_middleware,
         headers: excon_headers(headers)
diff --git a/common/spec/dependabot/shared_helpers_spec.rb b/common/spec/dependabot/shared_helpers_spec.rb
index 2449f760e90..5206652579d 100644
--- a/common/spec/dependabot/shared_helpers_spec.rb
+++ b/common/spec/dependabot/shared_helpers_spec.rb
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ def existing_tmp_folders
         connect_timeout: 5,
         write_timeout: 5,
         read_timeout: 20,
+        retry_limit: 4,
         omit_default_port: true,
         middlewares: described_class.excon_middleware,
         headers: described_class.excon_headers
diff --git a/maven/lib/dependabot/maven/file_parser/repositories_finder.rb b/maven/lib/dependabot/maven/file_parser/repositories_finder.rb
index 96c15d5bca9..88488e507d4 100644
--- a/maven/lib/dependabot/maven/file_parser/repositories_finder.rb
+++ b/maven/lib/dependabot/maven/file_parser/repositories_finder.rb
@@ -113,6 +113,11 @@ def fetch_remote_parent_pom(group_id, artifact_id, version, repo_urls)
             @maven_responses[url] ||= Excon.get(
               url,
               idempotent: true,
+              # We attempt to find dependencies in private repos before failing over to the CENTRAL_REPO_URL,
+              # but this can burn a lot of a job's time against slow servers due to our `read_timeout` being 20 seconds.
+              #
+              # In order to avoid the overall job timing out, we only make one retry attempt
+              retry_limit: 1,
               **SharedHelpers.excon_defaults
             )
             next unless @maven_responses[url].status == 200