diff --git a/docs/configuration.rst b/docs/configuration.rst
index 861297fc..1b8229f3 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.rst
+++ b/docs/configuration.rst
@@ -301,7 +301,8 @@ extractor.*.retries
 =========== =====
 Type        ``integer``
 Default     ``4``
-Description Number of times a failed HTTP request is retried before giving up.
+Description Maximum number of times a failed HTTP request is retried before
+            giving up or ``-1`` for infinite retries.
 =========== =====
 
 
@@ -1024,7 +1025,8 @@ downloader.*.retries
 =========== =====
 Type        ``integer``
 Default     `extractor.*.retries`_
-Description Number of retries during file downloads.
+Description Maximum number of retries during file downloads
+            or ``-1`` for infinite retries.
 =========== =====
 
 
diff --git a/gallery_dl/downloader/http.py b/gallery_dl/downloader/http.py
index 87f745b2..82092c21 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/downloader/http.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/downloader/http.py
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ class HttpDownloader(DownloaderBase):
         self.downloading = False
         self.chunk_size = 16384
 
+        if self.retries < 0:
+            self.retries = float("inf")
         if self.rate:
             self.rate = text.parse_bytes(self.rate)
             if not self.rate:
diff --git a/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py b/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py
index 7866f301..da579358 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py
@@ -20,10 +20,11 @@ class YoutubeDLDownloader(DownloaderBase):
     def __init__(self, extractor, output):
         DownloaderBase.__init__(self, extractor, output)
 
+        retries = self.config("retries", extractor._retries)
         options = {
             "format": self.config("format") or None,
             "ratelimit": text.parse_bytes(self.config("rate"), None),
-            "retries": self.config("retries", extractor._retries),
+            "retries": retries+1 if retries >= 0 else float("inf"),
             "socket_timeout": self.config("timeout", extractor._timeout),
             "nocheckcertificate": not self.config("verify", extractor._verify),
             "nopart": not self.part,
diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/common.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/common.py
index 70428650..e883d33a 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/common.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/common.py
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ class Extractor():
         self._timeout = self.config("timeout", 30)
         self._verify = self.config("verify", True)
 
+        if self._retries < 0:
+            self._retries = float("inf")
+
     @classmethod
     def from_url(cls, url):
         if isinstance(cls.pattern, str):
diff --git a/gallery_dl/option.py b/gallery_dl/option.py
index d6470ed7..26dfd8ee 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/option.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/option.py
@@ -173,8 +173,9 @@ def build_parser():
     )
     downloader.add_argument(
         "-R", "--retries",
-        dest="retries", metavar="RETRIES", type=int, action=ConfigAction,
-        help="Number of retries (default: 4)",
+        dest="retries", metavar="N", type=int, action=ConfigAction,
+        help=("Maximum number of retries for failed HTTP requests "
+              "or -1 for infinite retries (default: 4)"),
     )
     downloader.add_argument(
         "-A", "--abort",