diff --git a/src/Downloader.ts b/src/Downloader.ts
index 27b197448..55a685fda 100644
--- a/src/Downloader.ts
+++ b/src/Downloader.ts
@@ -393,25 +393,36 @@ class Downloader {
     })
   }
 
-  public async downloadContent(_url: string): Promise<{ content: Buffer | string; responseHeaders: any }> {
+  public async downloadContent(_url: string, retry = true): Promise<{ content: Buffer | string; responseHeaders: any }> {
     if (!_url) {
       throw new Error(`Parameter [${_url}] is not a valid url`)
     }
     const url = this.deserializeUrl(_url)
 
     await this.claimRequest()
-    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-      this.backoffCall(this.getContentCb, url, async (err: any, val: any) => {
-        this.releaseRequest()
-        if (err) {
-          const httpStatus = err.response && err.response.status
-          logger.warn(`Failed to get [${url}] [status=${httpStatus}]`)
-          reject(err)
+
+    try {
+      return await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+        const cb = (err: any, val: any) => {
+          if (err) {
+            reject(err)
+          } else {
+            resolve(val)
+          }
+        }
+        if (retry) {
+          this.backoffCall(this.getContentCb, url, cb)
         } else {
-          resolve(val)
+          this.getContentCb(url, cb)
         }
       })
-    })
+    } catch (err) {
+      const httpStatus = err.response && err.response.status
+      logger.warn(`Failed to get [${url}] [status=${httpStatus}]`)
+      throw err
+    } finally {
+      this.releaseRequest()
+    }
   }
 
   public async canGetUrl(url: string): Promise<boolean> {
diff --git a/src/mwoffliner.lib.ts b/src/mwoffliner.lib.ts
index d16259416..ad0627dcc 100644
--- a/src/mwoffliner.lib.ts
+++ b/src/mwoffliner.lib.ts
@@ -478,11 +478,7 @@ async function execute(argv: any) {
       }),
     )
 
-    await downloadFiles(filesToDownloadXPath, zimCreator, dump, downloader)
-
-    logger.log('Flushing Redis file store')
-    await filesToDownloadXPath.flush()
-    await filesToRetryXPath.flush()
+    await downloadFiles(filesToDownloadXPath, filesToRetryXPath, zimCreator, dump, downloader)
 
     logger.log('Writing Article Redirects')
     await writeArticleRedirects(downloader, dump, zimCreator)
diff --git a/src/util/const.ts b/src/util/const.ts
index a4c0e263d..7dfc9d14a 100644
--- a/src/util/const.ts
+++ b/src/util/const.ts
@@ -17,3 +17,4 @@ export const DEFAULT_WIKI_PATH = 'wiki/'
 export const ALL_READY_FUNCTION = /function allReady\( modules \) {/
 export const DO_PROPAGATION = /mw\.requestIdleCallback\( doPropagation, \{ timeout: 1 \} \);/
 export const WEBP_HANDLER_URL = 'https://gist.githubusercontent.com/rgaudin/60bb9cc6f187add506584258028b8ee1/raw/9d575b8e25d67eed2a9c9a91d3e053a0062d2fc7/web-handler.js'
+export const MAX_FILE_DOWNLOAD_RETRIES = 5
diff --git a/src/util/saveArticles.ts b/src/util/saveArticles.ts
index 9f415b376..883406a62 100644
--- a/src/util/saveArticles.ts
+++ b/src/util/saveArticles.ts
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@ import { Dump } from '../Dump.js'
 import { contains, genCanonicalLink, genHeaderCSSLink, genHeaderScript, getFullUrl, getMediaBase, jsPath } from './index.js'
 import { config } from '../config.js'
 import { footerTemplate, htmlTemplateCode } from '../Templates.js'
-import { articleDetailXId, filesToDownloadXPath, filesToRetryXPath } from '../stores.js'
+import { articleDetailXId, filesToDownloadXPath } from '../stores.js'
 import { getRelativeFilePath, getSizeFromUrl, encodeArticleIdForZimHtmlUrl, interpolateTranslationString, isWebpCandidateImageMimeType, getMimeType } from './misc.js'
 import { RedisKvs } from './RedisKvs.js'
 import { rewriteUrlsOfDoc } from './rewriteUrls.js'
-import { CONCURRENCY_LIMIT, DELETED_ARTICLE_ERROR } from './const.js'
+import { CONCURRENCY_LIMIT, DELETED_ARTICLE_ERROR, MAX_FILE_DOWNLOAD_RETRIES } from './const.js'
 
 const genericJsModules = config.output.mw.js
 const genericCssModules = config.output.mw.css
@@ -28,11 +28,13 @@ type FileStore = RedisKvs<{
   width?: number
 }>
 
-export async function downloadFiles(fileStore: FileStore, zimCreator: ZimCreator, dump: Dump, downloader: Downloader, retryLater = true) {
+export async function downloadFiles(fileStore: FileStore, retryStore: FileStore, zimCreator: ZimCreator, dump: Dump, downloader: Downloader, retryCounter = 0) {
+  await retryStore.flush()
   const filesForAttempt = await fileStore.len()
   const filesTotal = filesForAttempt + dump.status.files.success + dump.status.files.fail
+  const doRetry = retryCounter < MAX_FILE_DOWNLOAD_RETRIES
 
-  logger.log(`${retryLater ? '' : 'RE-'}Downloading a total of [${retryLater ? filesTotal : filesForAttempt}] files...`)
+  logger.log(`${retryCounter ? 'RE-' : ''}Downloading a total of [${retryCounter ? filesForAttempt : filesTotal}] files...`)
   let prevPercentProgress: string
 
   await fileStore.iterateItems(downloader.speed, async (fileDownloadPairs, workerId) => {
@@ -64,9 +66,8 @@ export async function downloadFiles(fileStore: FileStore, zimCreator: ZimCreator
         isFailed = true
       } finally {
         if (isFailed) {
-          // todo don't queue 404 for retry
-          if (retryLater) {
-            await filesToRetryXPath.set(resp.path, { url: resp.url, namespace: resp.namespace, mult: resp.mult, width: resp.width })
+          if (doRetry && resp.status !== 404) {
+            await retryStore.set(resp.path, { url: resp.url, namespace: resp.namespace, mult: resp.mult, width: resp.width })
           } else {
             logger.warn(`Error downloading file [${downloader.deserializeUrl(resp.url)}], skipping`)
             dump.status.files.fail += 1
@@ -83,16 +84,19 @@ export async function downloadFiles(fileStore: FileStore, zimCreator: ZimCreator
     }
   })
 
-  if (retryLater) {
-    const isThereAnythingToRetry = (await filesToRetryXPath.len()) > 0
-    if (isThereAnythingToRetry) {
-      await downloadFiles(filesToRetryXPath, zimCreator, dump, downloader, false)
+  logger.log(`Done with ${retryCounter ? 'RE-' : ''}Downloading [${retryCounter ? filesForAttempt : filesTotal}] files`)
+
+  if (doRetry) {
+    const amountToRetry = await retryStore.len()
+    if (amountToRetry > 0) {
+      const ts = (retryCounter + 1) * 10
+      logger.log(`Waiting ${ts} seconds before retrying ${amountToRetry} files`)
+      await new Promise((res) => setTimeout(res, ts * 1000))
+      await downloadFiles(retryStore, fileStore, zimCreator, dump, downloader, retryCounter + 1)
     } else {
       logger.log('No files to retry')
     }
   }
-
-  logger.log(`Done with ${retryLater ? '' : 'RE-'}Downloading a total of [${retryLater ? filesTotal : filesForAttempt}] files`)
 }
 
 async function downloadBulk(listOfArguments: any[], downloader: Downloader): Promise<any> {
@@ -116,13 +120,14 @@ async function downloadBulk(listOfArguments: any[], downloader: Downloader): Pro
         resp.width = arg.val.width
 
         return downloader
-          .downloadContent(arg.val.url)
+          .downloadContent(arg.val.url, false)
           .then((r) => {
             resp.result = r
             resp.path += resp.result.responseHeaders.path_postfix || ''
             return resp
           })
-          .catch(() => {
+          .catch((err) => {
+            resp.status = err.response?.status
             return resp
           })
       },