diff --git a/lib/puppet/util/retryaction.rb b/lib/puppet/util/retryaction.rb
index a50ceb784..348c6b02e 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/util/retryaction.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/util/retryaction.rb
@@ -1,47 +1,52 @@
 module Puppet::Util::RetryAction
   class RetryException < Exception; end
   class RetryException::NoBlockGiven < RetryException; end
   class RetryException::NoRetriesGiven < RetryException;end
   class RetryException::RetriesExceeded < RetryException; end
 
-  def self.retry_action( parameters = { :retry_exceptions => nil, :retries => nil } )
+  def self.retry_action( options = { :retry_exceptions => nil, :retries => nil } )
     # Retry actions for a specified amount of time. This method will allow the final
     # retry to complete even if that extends beyond the timeout period.
-    unless block_given?
+    if !block_given?
       raise RetryException::NoBlockGiven
     end
+    if options[:retries].nil?
+      raise RetryException::NoRetriesGiven
+    end
 
-    raise RetryException::NoRetriesGiven if parameters[:retries].nil?
-    parameters[:retry_exceptions] ||= Hash.new
+    retry_exceptions = options[:retry_exceptions] || Hash.new
+    retries = options[:retries]
 
     failures = 0
 
     begin
       yield
     rescue Exception => e
-      # If we were giving exceptions to catch,
+      # If we were given exceptions to catch,
       # catch the excptions we care about and retry.
       # All others fail hard
 
-      raise RetryException::RetriesExceeded, "#{parameters[:retries]} exceeded", e.backtrace if parameters[:retries] == 0
+      if retries == 0
+        raise RetryException::RetriesExceeded, "#{retries} exceeded", e.backtrace
+      end
 
-      if (not parameters[:retry_exceptions].keys.empty?) and parameters[:retry_exceptions].keys.include?(e.class)
+      if retry_exceptions.keys.include?(e.class)
         Puppet.info("Caught exception #{e.class}:#{e}")
-        Puppet.info(parameters[:retry_exceptions][e.class])
-      elsif (not parameters[:retry_exceptions].keys.empty?)
+        Puppet.info(retry_exceptions[e.class])
+      elsif !retry_exceptions.keys.empty?
         # If the exceptions is not in the list of retry_exceptions re-raise.
         raise e
       end
 
       failures += 1
-      parameters[:retries] -= 1
+      retries -= 1
 
       # Increase the amount of time that we sleep after every
       # failed retry attempt.
       sleep (((2 ** failures) -1) * 0.1)
 
       retry
 
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/unit/util/retryaction_spec.rb b/spec/unit/util/retryaction_spec.rb
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 28c5fed84..0700e2f32
--- a/spec/unit/util/retryaction_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/util/retryaction_spec.rb
@@ -1,62 +1,69 @@
 #! /usr/bin/env ruby
 require 'spec_helper'
 
 require 'puppet/util/retryaction'
 
 describe Puppet::Util::RetryAction do
   let (:exceptions) {{ Puppet::Error => 'Puppet Error Exception' }}
 
   it 'should retry on any exception if no acceptable exceptions given' do
     Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).with( (((2 ** 1) -1) * 0.1) )
     Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).with( (((2 ** 2) -1) * 0.1) )
 
     expect do
       Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 2 ) do
         raise ArgumentError, 'Fake Failure'
       end
     end.to raise_exception(Puppet::Util::RetryAction::RetryException::RetriesExceeded)
   end
 
   it 'should retry on acceptable exceptions' do
     Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).with( (((2 ** 1) -1) * 0.1) )
     Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).with( (((2 ** 2) -1) * 0.1) )
 
     expect do
       Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 2, :retry_exceptions => exceptions) do
         raise Puppet::Error, 'Fake Failure'
       end
     end.to raise_exception(Puppet::Util::RetryAction::RetryException::RetriesExceeded)
   end
 
   it 'should not retry on unacceptable exceptions' do
     Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).never
 
     expect do
       Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 2, :retry_exceptions => exceptions) do
         raise ArgumentError
       end
     end.to raise_exception(ArgumentError)
   end
 
   it 'should succeed if nothing is raised' do
     Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).never
 
     Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 2) do
       true
     end
   end
 
   it 'should succeed if an expected exception is raised retried and succeeds' do
     should_retry = nil
     Puppet::Util::RetryAction.expects(:sleep).once
 
     Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action( :retries => 2, :retry_exceptions => exceptions) do
       if should_retry
         true
       else
         should_retry = true
         raise Puppet::Error, 'Fake error'
       end
     end
   end
+
+  it "doesn't mutate caller's arguments" do
+    options = { :retries => 1 }.freeze
+
+    Puppet::Util::RetryAction.retry_action(options) do
+    end
+  end
 end