diff --git a/csst_common/utils/_retry.py b/csst_common/utils/_retry.py
index d11e4ccfc5aea4779658fb87de291be7abfb6b21..b41638cefe6331dbeceec438f2e50bce175cd971 100644
--- a/csst_common/utils/_retry.py
+++ b/csst_common/utils/_retry.py
@@ -9,7 +9,11 @@ Modified-History:
 """
 
 
-def retry(func, n_try=3, *args, **kwargs):
+def retry(func, *args, **kwargs):
+    if "n_try" in kwargs.keys():
+        n_try = kwargs.pop("n_try")
+    else:
+        n_try = 5
     # is DFS?
     try:
         assert func.__self__.__class__.__module__.startswith("csst_dfs_api"), func