diff --git a/storage/emulator_test.sh b/storage/emulator_test.sh
index 59c9069dc74..e1cf4af76ae 100755
--- a/storage/emulator_test.sh
+++ b/storage/emulator_test.sh
@@ -67,62 +67,5 @@ function cleanup() {
 }
 trap cleanup EXIT
 
-# TODO: move to passing once fixed
-FAILING=(   
-            "objects.insert"
-        )
-# TODO: remove regex once all tests are passing
-# Unfortunately, there is no simple way to skip specific tests (see https://github.com/golang/go/issues/41583)
-# Therefore, we have to simply run all the specific tests we know pass
-PASSING=(   "buckets.list"
-            "buckets.insert"
-            "buckets.get"
-            "buckets.delete"
-            "buckets.update"
-            "buckets.patch"
-            "buckets.getIamPolicy"
-            "buckets.setIamPolicy"
-            "buckets.testIamPermissions"
-            "buckets.lockRetentionPolicy"
-            "objects.copy"
-            "objects.get"
-            "objects.list"
-            "objects.delete"
-            "objects.update"
-            "objects.patch"
-            "objects.compose"
-            "objects.rewrite"
-            "serviceaccount.get"
-            "hmacKey.get"
-            "hmacKey.list"
-            "hmacKey.create"
-            "hmacKey.delete"
-            "hmacKey.update"
-            "notifications.list"
-            "notifications.create"
-            "notifications.get"
-            "notifications.delete"
-            "object_acl.insert"
-            "object_acl.get"
-            "object_acl.list"
-            "object_acl.patch"
-            "object_acl.update"
-            "object_acl.delete"
-            "default_object_acl.insert"
-            "default_object_acl.get"
-            "default_object_acl.list"
-            "default_object_acl.patch"
-            "default_object_acl.update"
-            "default_object_acl.delete"
-            "bucket_acl.insert"
-            "bucket_acl.get"
-            "bucket_acl.list"
-            "bucket_acl.patch"
-            "bucket_acl.update"
-            "bucket_acl.delete"
-        )
-TEMP=${PASSING[@]} 
-PASSING_REGEX=${TEMP// /|}
-
 # Run tests
-go test -v -timeout 10m ./ -run="TestRetryConformance/($PASSING_REGEX)-" -short 2>&1 | tee -a sponge_log.log
+go test -v -timeout 10m ./ -run="TestRetryConformance" -short 2>&1 | tee -a sponge_log.log
diff --git a/storage/writer.go b/storage/writer.go
index ec55e4a3ba4..51d8b63779b 100644
--- a/storage/writer.go
+++ b/storage/writer.go
@@ -172,6 +172,22 @@ func (w *Writer) open() error {
 			// call to set up the upload as well as calls to upload individual chunks
 			// for a resumable upload (as long as the chunk size is non-zero). Hence
 			// there is no need to add retries here.
+
+			// Retry only when the operation is idempotent or the retry policy is RetryAlways.
+			isIdempotent := w.o.conds != nil && (w.o.conds.GenerationMatch >= 0 || w.o.conds.DoesNotExist == true)
+			var useRetry bool
+			if (w.o.retry == nil || w.o.retry.policy == RetryIdempotent) && isIdempotent {
+				useRetry = true
+			} else if w.o.retry != nil && w.o.retry.policy == RetryAlways {
+				useRetry = true
+			}
+			if useRetry {
+				if w.o.retry != nil {
+					call.WithRetry(w.o.retry.backoff, w.o.retry.shouldRetry)
+				} else {
+					call.WithRetry(nil, nil)
+				}
+			}
 			resp, err = call.Do()
 		}
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/storage/writer_test.go b/storage/writer_test.go
index 2d69a8a11f0..ae67e1061a4 100644
--- a/storage/writer_test.go
+++ b/storage/writer_test.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func TestErrorOnObjectsInsertCall(t *testing.T) {
 
 	doWrite := func(mt *mockTransport) *Writer {
 		client := mockClient(t, mt)
-		wc := client.Bucket("bucketname").Object("filename1").NewWriter(ctx)
+		wc := client.Bucket("bucketname").Object("filename1").If(Conditions{DoesNotExist: true}).NewWriter(ctx)
 		wc.ContentType = "text/plain"
 
 		// We can't check that the Write fails, since it depends on the write to the