diff --git a/experimental/CHANGELOG.md b/experimental/CHANGELOG.md
index a6dcfd65e38..31bb5a12327 100644
--- a/experimental/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/experimental/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ For notes on migrating to 2.x / 0.200.x see [the upgrade guide](doc/upgrade-to-2
 * feat(opentelemetry-sdk-node): set instrumentation and propagators for experimental start [#6148](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/6148) @maryliag
 * refactor(configuration): set console exporter as empty object [#6164](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/6164) @maryliag
 * feat(instrumentation-http, instrumentation-fetch, instrumentation-xml-http-request): support "QUERY" as a known HTTP method
+* feat(otlp-exporter-base): ensure that we retry for at least 80% of specified user timeout [#6260](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/6260) @jsokol805
 
 ### :bug: Bug Fixes
 
diff --git a/experimental/packages/otlp-exporter-base/src/retrying-transport.ts b/experimental/packages/otlp-exporter-base/src/retrying-transport.ts
index 0d5e4184e5c..58c06235225 100644
--- a/experimental/packages/otlp-exporter-base/src/retrying-transport.ts
+++ b/experimental/packages/otlp-exporter-base/src/retrying-transport.ts
@@ -18,9 +18,10 @@ import { IExporterTransport } from './exporter-transport';
 import { ExportResponse } from './export-response';
 import { diag } from '@opentelemetry/api';
 
-const MAX_ATTEMPTS = 5;
 const INITIAL_BACKOFF = 1000;
-const MAX_BACKOFF = 5000;
+const MINIMAL_MAX_BACKOFF = 5000;
+const MAX_BACKOFF_MULTIPLIER = 0.2;
+const MAX_ATTEMPTS = 20;
 const BACKOFF_MULTIPLIER = 1.5;
 const JITTER = 0.2;
 
@@ -53,6 +54,10 @@ class RetryingTransport implements IExporterTransport {
   async send(data: Uint8Array, timeoutMillis: number): Promise<ExportResponse> {
     let attempts = MAX_ATTEMPTS;
     let nextBackoff = INITIAL_BACKOFF;
+    const maxBackoff = Math.max(
+      MINIMAL_MAX_BACKOFF,
+      MAX_BACKOFF_MULTIPLIER * timeoutMillis
+    );
 
     const deadline = Date.now() + timeoutMillis;
     let result = await this._transport.send(data, timeoutMillis);
@@ -62,7 +67,7 @@ class RetryingTransport implements IExporterTransport {
 
       // use maximum of computed backoff and 0 to avoid negative timeouts
       const backoff = Math.max(
-        Math.min(nextBackoff * (1 + getJitter()), MAX_BACKOFF),
+        Math.min(nextBackoff * (1 + getJitter()), maxBackoff),
         0
       );
       nextBackoff = nextBackoff * BACKOFF_MULTIPLIER;
diff --git a/experimental/packages/otlp-exporter-base/test/common/retrying-transport.test.ts b/experimental/packages/otlp-exporter-base/test/common/retrying-transport.test.ts
index fe3c2a662e4..0ff0ef02b8c 100644
--- a/experimental/packages/otlp-exporter-base/test/common/retrying-transport.test.ts
+++ b/experimental/packages/otlp-exporter-base/test/common/retrying-transport.test.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ const timeoutMillis = 1000000;
 
 describe('RetryingTransport', function () {
   describe('send', function () {
+    afterEach(function () {
+      sinon.restore();
+    });
+
     it('does not retry when underlying transport succeeds', async function () {
       // arrange
       const expectedResponse: ExportResponse = {
@@ -179,15 +183,14 @@ describe('RetryingTransport', function () {
       );
     });
 
-    it('does retry 5 times, then resolves as retryable', async function () {
+    it('stops retrying when timeout is exhausted', async function () {
       // arrange
-      // make random return a negative value so that what's passed to setTimeout() is negative and therefore gets executed immediately.
-      Math.random = sinon.stub().returns(-Infinity);
+      const clock = sinon.useFakeTimers();
+      const testTimeout = 10000; // 10 seconds
 
       const retryResponse: ExportResponse = {
         status: 'retryable',
       };
-
       const mockData = Uint8Array.from([1, 2, 3]);
 
       const transportStubs = {
@@ -198,20 +201,30 @@ describe('RetryingTransport', function () {
       const transport = createRetryingTransport({ transport: mockTransport });
 
       // act
-      const result = await transport.send(mockData, timeoutMillis);
+      let resolved = false;
+      let result: ExportResponse | undefined;
+      transport.send(mockData, testTimeout).then(r => {
+        resolved = true;
+        result = r;
+      });
+
+      while (!resolved) {
+        await clock.tickAsync(100);
+      }
 
       // assert
-      sinon.assert.callCount(transportStubs.send, 6); // 1 initial try and 5 retries
-      sinon.assert.alwaysCalledWithMatch(
-        transportStubs.send,
-        mockData,
-        sinon.match.number.and(
-          sinon.match(value => {
-            return value <= timeoutMillis;
-          })
-        )
+      assert.strictEqual(result!.status, 'retryable');
+      // At least one of these conditions caused the stop:
+      // - timeout exhausted, OR
+      // - max attempts reached
+      assert.ok(
+        transportStubs.send.callCount > 1,
+        `Should have retried at least once`
+      );
+      assert.ok(
+        transportStubs.send.callCount <= 21, // initial + 20 retries
+        `Should not exceed max attempts`
       );
-      assert.strictEqual(result, retryResponse);
     });
 
     it('does not retry when retryInMillis takes place after timeoutMillis', async function () {
@@ -242,5 +255,48 @@ describe('RetryingTransport', function () {
       );
       assert.strictEqual(result, retryResponse);
     });
+
+    it('uses at least 80% of timeout duration for retries', async function () {
+      // arrange
+      const clock = sinon.useFakeTimers();
+      const testTimeout = 60000; // 60 seconds
+
+      const retryResponse: ExportResponse = {
+        status: 'retryable',
+      };
+      const mockData = Uint8Array.from([1, 2, 3]);
+
+      const transportStubs = {
+        send: sinon.stub().callsFake(() => {
+          return Promise.resolve(retryResponse);
+        }),
+        shutdown: sinon.stub(),
+      };
+      const mockTransport = <IExporterTransport>transportStubs;
+      const transport = createRetryingTransport({ transport: mockTransport });
+
+      // act
+      let resolved = false;
+      const resultPromise = transport.send(mockData, testTimeout).then(r => {
+        resolved = true;
+        return r;
+      });
+
+      // Advance time in small increments, allowing promises to resolve between ticks
+      while (!resolved) {
+        await clock.tickAsync(1000);
+      }
+
+      await resultPromise;
+
+      // assert
+      const timeUsed = clock.now;
+      const timeUsedThreshold = 0.8 * testTimeout;
+
+      assert.ok(
+        timeUsed >= timeUsedThreshold,
+        `Expected to use at least ${timeUsedThreshold}, but only used ${timeUsed}ms (timeout: ${testTimeout}ms)`
+      );
+    });
   });
 });