diff --git a/lib/puppet/util/retryaction.rb b/lib/puppet/util/retryaction.rb
index ef5012575..fd54ade65 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/util/retryaction.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/util/retryaction.rb
@@ -1,42 +1,46 @@
 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( options = { :retry_exceptions => nil, :retries => nil } )
+  # Execute the supplied block retrying with exponential backoff.
+  #
+  # @param [Hash] options the retry options
+  # @option options [FixNum] :retries Maximum number of times to retry.
+  # @option options [Array<Exception>] :retry_exceptions ([StandardError]) Optional array of exceptions that are allowed to be retried.
+  # @yield The block to be executed.
+  def self.retry_action(options = {})
     # 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.
     if !block_given?
       raise RetryException::NoBlockGiven
     end
-    if options[:retries].nil?
+
+    retries = options[:retries]
+    if retries.nil?
       raise RetryException::NoRetriesGiven
     end
 
     retry_exceptions = options[:retry_exceptions] || [StandardError]
-    retries = options[:retries]
-
     failures = 0
-
     begin
       yield
     rescue *retry_exceptions => e
-      if retries == 0
+      if failures >= retries
         raise RetryException::RetriesExceeded, "#{retries} exceeded", e.backtrace
       end
 
       Puppet.info("Caught exception #{e.class}:#{e} retrying")
 
       failures += 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