diff --git a/stash/restore/action.yml b/stash/restore/action.yml
index 50cb8267..8f39dcd1 100644
--- a/stash/restore/action.yml
+++ b/stash/restore/action.yml
@@ -45,6 +45,20 @@ inputs:
         If true, only the current branch will be searched for the stash.
         If false, the base branch(PRs)/default branch will be searched as well.
     default: "false"
+  retry-count:
+    description: >
+      Number of attempts for downloading the stash artifact. When `gh run download`
+      exits with code 1 (the transient failure mode observed for artifact downloads),
+      the download will be retried until it succeeds or this many attempts have been
+      made. Other exit codes are not retried.
+    default: "3"
+  fail-on-download:
+    description: >
+      If true, the action will fail when a stash artifact was found but could not be
+      downloaded (after exhausting `retry-count` attempts). If false (the default),
+      a failed download is reported only via the `stash-hit` output and the step
+      itself succeeds.
+    default: "false"
 outputs:
   stash-hit:
     description: >
@@ -148,21 +162,52 @@ runs:
         STASH_RUN_ID: "${{ steps.check-stash.outputs.stash_run_id }}"
         REPO: "${{ github.repository }}"
         STASH_DIR: "${{ steps.mung.outputs.stash_path }}"
+        RETRY_COUNT: "${{ inputs.retry-count }}"
+        FAIL_ON_DOWNLOAD: "${{ inputs.fail-on-download }}"
       run: |
-        # Catch errors in the download with || to avoid the whole workflow failing
-        # when the download times out
+        # The default GitHub Actions bash shell runs with `set -eo pipefail`,
+        # which would abort this step the moment `gh run download` or `rm -rf`
+        # returns non-zero. Disable `errexit` explicitly so a single failing
+        # command cannot kill the step — we handle failures ourselves via $?.
+        set +e
         if [[ "${{ inputs.clean }}" == "true" ]]; then
             if [[ -d "$STASH_DIR" ]]; then
                 echo "Removing existing stash directory: $STASH_DIR"
                 rm -rf "$STASH_DIR"
             fi
         fi
-        gh run download "$STASH_RUN_ID" \
-                        --name "$STASH_NAME" \
-                        --dir "$STASH_DIR" \
-                        -R "$REPO" || download="failed" && download="success"
+        # Retry up to RETRY_COUNT times when `gh run download` exits with
+        # code 1 (the transient failure mode observed for artifact downloads).
+        download="failed"
+        attempt=1
+        while (( attempt <= RETRY_COUNT )); do
+            echo "Downloading stash (attempt $attempt of $RETRY_COUNT)..."
+            gh run download "$STASH_RUN_ID" \
+                            --name "$STASH_NAME" \
+                            --dir "$STASH_DIR" \
+                            -R "$REPO"
+            rc=$?
+            if (( rc == 0 )); then
+                download="success"
+                break
+            fi
+            if (( rc != 1 )); then
+                echo "::warning ::gh run download failed with exit code $rc; not retrying."
+                break
+            fi
+            echo "::warning ::gh run download failed with exit code 1 on attempt $attempt."
+            attempt=$(( attempt + 1 ))
+        done
 
         echo "download=$download" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        if [[ "$download" != "success" && "$FAIL_ON_DOWNLOAD" == "true" ]]; then
+            echo "::error ::Stash artifact download failed after $RETRY_COUNT attempt(s) and fail-on-download is true."
+            exit 1
+        fi
+        # Otherwise exit 0 — the `download` output tells downstream steps
+        # whether the stash was restored, and a failed download must not fail
+        # the step unless the caller opted in via fail-on-download.
+        exit 0
 
     - name: Set stash-hit Output
       id: output