diff --git a/gcsio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/hadoop/gcsio/GoogleCloudStorageTest.java b/gcsio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/hadoop/gcsio/GoogleCloudStorageTest.java
index f3a1fdac2..798b7476a 100644
--- a/gcsio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/hadoop/gcsio/GoogleCloudStorageTest.java
+++ b/gcsio/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/hadoop/gcsio/GoogleCloudStorageTest.java
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
 import static com.google.cloud.hadoop.gcsio.TrackingHttpRequestInitializer.resumableUploadChunkRequestString;
 import static com.google.cloud.hadoop.gcsio.TrackingHttpRequestInitializer.resumableUploadRequestString;
 import static com.google.cloud.hadoop.gcsio.TrackingHttpRequestInitializer.uploadRequestString;
-import static com.google.cloud.hadoop.util.RetryHttpInitializer.HTTP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT;
 import static com.google.cloud.hadoop.util.testing.MockHttpTransportHelper.dataResponse;
 import static com.google.cloud.hadoop.util.testing.MockHttpTransportHelper.emptyResponse;
 import static com.google.cloud.hadoop.util.testing.MockHttpTransportHelper.inputStreamResponse;
@@ -432,7 +431,7 @@ public void upload_retry_requestTimeout() throws Exception {
         mockTransport(
             emptyResponse(HttpStatusCodes.STATUS_CODE_NOT_FOUND),
             resumableUploadResponse(BUCKET_NAME, OBJECT_NAME),
-            emptyResponse(HTTP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT),
+            emptyResponse(408), // HTTP 408 Request Timeout
             jsonDataResponse(
                 newStorageObject(BUCKET_NAME, OBJECT_NAME)
                     .setSize(BigInteger.valueOf(testData.length))));
diff --git a/util/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/hadoop/util/RetryHttpInitializer.java b/util/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/hadoop/util/RetryHttpInitializer.java
index 5b80069bc..15c8d62f4 100644
--- a/util/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/hadoop/util/RetryHttpInitializer.java
+++ b/util/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/hadoop/util/RetryHttpInitializer.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 import com.google.common.flogger.GoogleLogger;
 import com.google.common.flogger.LogContext;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Set;
 
 /** An implementation of {@link HttpRequestInitializer} with retries. */
 public class RetryHttpInitializer implements HttpRequestInitializer {
@@ -116,6 +117,15 @@ private static class UnsuccessfulResponseHandler implements HttpUnsuccessfulResp
     /** HTTP status code indicating too many requests in a given amount of time. */
     private static final int HTTP_SC_TOO_MANY_REQUESTS = 429;
 
+    /**
+     * HTTP status code indicating that the server has decided to close the connection rather than
+     * continue waiting
+     */
+    private static final int HTTP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT = 408;
+
+    private static final Set<Integer> RETRYABLE_CODES =
+        ImmutableSet.of(HTTP_SC_TOO_MANY_REQUESTS, HTTP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT);
+
     // The set of response codes to log URLs for with a rate limit.
     private static final ImmutableSet<Integer> RESPONSE_CODES_TO_LOG_WITH_RATE_LIMIT =
         ImmutableSet.of(HTTP_SC_TOO_MANY_REQUESTS);
@@ -132,7 +142,7 @@ private static class UnsuccessfulResponseHandler implements HttpUnsuccessfulResp
     // of the bases cases defined by this instance.
     private static final HttpBackOffUnsuccessfulResponseHandler.BackOffRequired BACK_OFF_REQUIRED =
         response ->
-            response.getStatusCode() == HTTP_SC_TOO_MANY_REQUESTS
+            RETRYABLE_CODES.contains(response.getStatusCode())
                 || HttpBackOffUnsuccessfulResponseHandler.BackOffRequired.ON_SERVER_ERROR
                     .isRequired(response);