diff --git a/cmd/activator/main.go b/cmd/activator/main.go
index 44220053f083..e55a2c66a7b8 100644
--- a/cmd/activator/main.go
+++ b/cmd/activator/main.go
@@ -104,6 +104,14 @@ func (rrt *retryRoundTripper) RoundTrip(r *http.Request) (*http.Response, error)
 			break
 		}
 
+		// stop retrying if the maximum elapsed time would be exceeded after
+		// the next timeout
+		nextDelay := rrt.CalculateDelay(retries, minRetryInterval)
+		elapsedTime := time.Now().Sub(startTime)
+		if elapsedTime+nextDelay > maxRetryTime {
+			break
+		}
+
 		if err != nil {
 			rrt.logger.Errorf("Error making a request: %s", err)
 		}
@@ -112,14 +120,6 @@ func (rrt *retryRoundTripper) RoundTrip(r *http.Request) (*http.Response, error)
 			resp.Body.Close()
 		}
 
-		// stop retrying if the maximum elapsed time would be exceeded after
-		// the next timeout
-		nextDelay := rrt.CalculateDelay(retries, minRetryInterval)
-		elapsedTime := time.Now().Sub(startTime)
-		if elapsedTime+maxRetryTime > maxRetryTime {
-			break
-		}
-
 		time.Sleep(nextDelay)
 
 		// The request body cannot be read multiple times for retries.