diff --git a/test/test_base.py b/test/test_base.py
index a6234b32..409a02c8 100644
--- a/test/test_base.py
+++ b/test/test_base.py
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ def __eq__(self, other):
 
         build_opener_mock.assert_called_once_with(
             _HTTPBasicAuthHandlerMatcher(self))
-        open_mock.assert_called_once_with(url, timeout=None)
+        open_mock.assert_called_once_with(url, timeout=10)
 
     @mock.patch('vcstool.clients.vcs_base.urlopen', autospec=True)
     @mock.patch('vcstool.clients.vcs_base.build_opener', autospec=True)
@@ -243,7 +243,71 @@ def __eq__(self, other):
                 return True
 
         urlopen_mock.assert_called_once_with(
-            _RequestMatcher(self), timeout=None)
+            _RequestMatcher(self), timeout=10)
+
+    @mock.patch('vcstool.clients.vcs_base.urlopen', autospec=True)
+    def test_load_url_retries(self, urlopen_mock):
+        urlopen_read_mock = urlopen_mock.return_value.read
+        urlopen_mock.side_effect = [
+            HTTPError(None, 503, 'test1', None, None),
+            HTTPError(None, 503, 'test2', None, None),
+            HTTPError(None, 503, 'test3', None, None),
+        ]
+
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(HTTPError, 'test3'):
+            vcs_base.load_url('example.com')
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(urlopen_mock.mock_calls), 3)
+        urlopen_mock.assert_has_calls([
+            mock.call('example.com', timeout=10),
+            mock.call('example.com', timeout=10),
+            mock.call('example.com', timeout=10),
+        ])
+        self.assertFalse(urlopen_read_mock.mock_calls)
+
+    @mock.patch('vcstool.clients.vcs_base.urlopen', autospec=True)
+    def test_load_url_retries_authenticated(self, urlopen_mock):
+        urlopen_read_mock = urlopen_mock.return_value.read
+        urlopen_mock.side_effect = [
+            HTTPError(None, 401, 'test1', None, None),
+            HTTPError(None, 503, 'test2', None, None),
+            HTTPError(None, 503, 'test3', None, None),
+            HTTPError(None, 503, 'test4', None, None),
+        ]
+
+        machine = 'example.com'
+        _create_netrc_file(
+            os.path.join(self.default_auth_dir, '.netrc'),
+            textwrap.dedent('''\
+                machine %s
+                password password
+                ''' % machine))
+
+        url = 'https://%s/foo/bar' % machine
+
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(HTTPError, 'test4'):
+            vcs_base.load_url(url)
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(urlopen_mock.mock_calls), 4)
+
+        class _RequestMatcher(object):
+            def __init__(self, test):
+                self.test = test
+
+            def __eq__(self, other):
+                self.test.assertEqual(other.get_full_url(), url)
+                self.test.assertEqual(
+                    other.get_header('Private-token'), 'password')
+                return True
+
+        urlopen_mock.assert_has_calls([
+            mock.call(url, timeout=10),
+            mock.call(_RequestMatcher(self), timeout=10),
+            mock.call(_RequestMatcher(self), timeout=10),
+            mock.call(_RequestMatcher(self), timeout=10),
+        ])
+        self.assertFalse(urlopen_read_mock.mock_calls)
+
 
 
 def _create_netrc_file(path, contents):
diff --git a/vcstool/clients/vcs_base.py b/vcstool/clients/vcs_base.py
index f42a700f..5091c37f 100644
--- a/vcstool/clients/vcs_base.py
+++ b/vcstool/clients/vcs_base.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import errno
+import functools
 import glob
 import logging
 import netrc
@@ -112,26 +113,17 @@ def run_command(cmd, cwd, env=None):
 def load_url(url, retry=2, retry_period=1, timeout=10):
     fh = None
     try:
-        fh = urlopen(url, timeout=timeout)
+        fh = _retryable_urlopen(url, timeout=timeout)
     except HTTPError as e:
-        e.msg += ' (%s)' % url
         if e.code in (401, 404):
             # Try again, but with authentication
             fh = _authenticated_urlopen(url, timeout=timeout)
-        elif e.code == 503 and retry:
-            time.sleep(retry_period)
-            return load_url(
-                url, retry=retry - 1, retry_period=retry_period,
-                timeout=timeout)
         if fh is None:
+            e.msg += ' (%s)' % url
             raise
     except URLError as e:
-        if isinstance(e.reason, socket.timeout) and retry:
-            time.sleep(retry_period)
-            return load_url(
-                url, retry=retry - 1, retry_period=retry_period,
-                timeout=timeout)
         raise URLError(str(e) + ' (%s)' % url)
+
     return fh.read()
 
 
@@ -140,33 +132,52 @@ def test_url(url, retry=2, retry_period=1, timeout=10):
     request.get_method = lambda: 'HEAD'
 
     try:
-        response = urlopen(request)
+        response = _retryable_urlopen(request)
     except HTTPError as e:
-        if e.code == 503 and retry:
-            time.sleep(retry_period)
-            return test_url(
-                url, retry=retry - 1, retry_period=retry_period,
-                timeout=timeout)
         e.msg += ' (%s)' % url
         raise
     except URLError as e:
-        if isinstance(e.reason, socket.timeout) and retry:
-            time.sleep(retry_period)
-            return test_url(
-                url, retry=retry - 1, retry_period=retry_period,
-                timeout=timeout)
         raise URLError(str(e) + ' (%s)' % url)
     return response
 
 
-def _authenticated_urlopen(uri, timeout=None):
+def _urlopen_retry(f):
+    @functools.wraps(f)
+    def _retryable_function(url, retry=2, retry_period=1, timeout=10):
+        retry += 1
+
+        while True:
+            try:
+                retry -= 1
+                return f(url, timeout=timeout)
+            except HTTPError as e:
+                if e.code != 503 or retry <= 0:
+                    raise
+            except URLError as e:
+                if not isinstance(e.reason, socket.timeout) or retry <= 0:
+                    raise
+
+            if retry > 0:
+                time.sleep(retry_period)
+            else:
+                break
+
+    return _retryable_function
+
+
+@_urlopen_retry
+def _retryable_urlopen(url, timeout=10):
+    return urlopen(url, timeout=timeout)
+
+
+@_urlopen_retry
+def _authenticated_urlopen(uri, timeout=10):
     machine = urlparse(uri).netloc
     if not machine:
         return None
 
     credentials = _credentials_for_machine(machine)
     if credentials is None:
-        logger.warning('No credentials found for "%s"' % machine)
         return None
 
     (username, account, password) = credentials