diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 999db4e..490eb99 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -252,7 +252,9 @@ jobs:
           mkdir -p "$AUDIT_ROOT"
           cd "$AUDIT_ROOT"
           npm init --yes >/dev/null
-          npm install --no-audit --no-fund --ignore-scripts "@tangle-network/braid@$VERSION"
+          bash "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/scripts/release/retry-registry-command.sh" \
+            npm install --prefer-online --no-audit --no-fund --ignore-scripts \
+            "@tangle-network/braid@$VERSION"
           npm audit signatures --json --include-attestations > "$RUNNER_TEMP/npm-audit-signatures.json"
 
       - name: Upload npm provenance
diff --git a/scripts/release/retry-registry-command.sh b/scripts/release/retry-registry-command.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2928305
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release/retry-registry-command.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+attempts="${BRAID_REGISTRY_ATTEMPTS:-30}"
+delay_seconds="${BRAID_REGISTRY_DELAY_SECONDS:-5}"
+
+if [[ ! "$attempts" =~ ^[1-9][0-9]*$ ]]; then
+  echo 'BRAID_REGISTRY_ATTEMPTS must be a positive integer' >&2
+  exit 64
+fi
+if [[ ! "$delay_seconds" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+  echo 'BRAID_REGISTRY_DELAY_SECONDS must be a non-negative integer' >&2
+  exit 64
+fi
+if (( $# == 0 )); then
+  echo 'A registry command is required' >&2
+  exit 64
+fi
+
+attempt=1
+while (( attempt <= attempts )); do
+  if "$@"; then
+    exit 0
+  fi
+  if (( attempt == attempts )); then
+    echo "Registry command failed after $attempts attempts" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  echo "Waiting for registry propagation ($attempt/$attempts)" >&2
+  sleep "$delay_seconds"
+  ((attempt += 1))
+done
diff --git a/scripts/release/smoke-package.mjs b/scripts/release/smoke-package.mjs
index a137da9..58231a4 100644
--- a/scripts/release/smoke-package.mjs
+++ b/scripts/release/smoke-package.mjs
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ async function sha256(path) {
 const artifactRootValue = option('--artifact-root') ?? process.env.BRAID_RELEASE_ARTIFACT_ROOT
 const registrySpec = option('--registry') ?? process.env.BRAID_RELEASE_REGISTRY_SPEC
 const outputPathValue = option('--output') ?? process.env.BRAID_SMOKE_OUTPUT
+const retryRegistryCommand = fileURLToPath(new URL('./retry-registry-command.sh', import.meta.url))
 const expectedPlatform = option('--expect-platform') ?? process.env.BRAID_EXPECT_PLATFORM
 const expectedArchitecture =
   option('--expect-architecture') ?? process.env.BRAID_EXPECT_ARCHITECTURE
@@ -149,7 +150,11 @@ try {
     const packRoot = join(smokeRoot, 'registry')
     await mkdir(packRoot)
     const npm = npmInvocation(['pack', registrySpec, '--pack-destination', packRoot])
-    await run(npm.file, npm.args, { cwd: smokeRoot })
+    await run('bash', [retryRegistryCommand, npm.file, ...npm.args], {
+      cwd: smokeRoot,
+      label: 'Registry package download',
+      timeoutMs: 5 * 60_000,
+    })
     const archives = (await readdir(packRoot)).filter((name) => name.endsWith('.tgz'))
     assert(archives.length === 1, 'Registry download did not produce exactly one tarball')
     tarballPath = join(packRoot, archives[0])
diff --git a/test/scripts.test.ts b/test/scripts.test.ts
index 515c03c..359ea11 100644
--- a/test/scripts.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict'
-import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process'
+import { execFileSync, spawnSync } from 'node:child_process'
 import { createHash } from 'node:crypto'
 import { mkdir, mkdtemp, readFile, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
@@ -85,6 +85,44 @@ test('compiled tests receive the JavaScript helpers imported from scripts', asyn
   assert.match(source, /entry\.name\.endsWith\('\.mjs'\)/u)
 })
 
+test('registry commands retry transient failures and stop at the configured limit', async () => {
+  const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'braid-registry-retry-'))
+  const counter = join(root, 'attempts')
+  const retry = join(process.cwd(), 'scripts', 'release', 'retry-registry-command.sh')
+  const countAttempt = [
+    "const fs = require('node:fs')",
+    'const path = process.argv[1]',
+    "const count = Number(fs.existsSync(path) ? fs.readFileSync(path, 'utf8') : '0') + 1",
+    'fs.writeFileSync(path, String(count))',
+    "process.exit(count < Number(process.env.SUCCEED_ON ?? '999') ? 42 : 0)",
+  ].join(';')
+  const environment = {
+    ...process.env,
+    BRAID_REGISTRY_ATTEMPTS: '3',
+    BRAID_REGISTRY_DELAY_SECONDS: '0',
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const recovered = spawnSync('bash', [retry, process.execPath, '-e', countAttempt, counter], {
+      encoding: 'utf8',
+      env: { ...environment, SUCCEED_ON: '3' },
+    })
+    assert.equal(recovered.status, 0, recovered.stderr)
+    assert.equal(await readFile(counter, 'utf8'), '3')
+
+    await writeFile(counter, '0')
+    const exhausted = spawnSync('bash', [retry, process.execPath, '-e', countAttempt, counter], {
+      encoding: 'utf8',
+      env: environment,
+    })
+    assert.equal(exhausted.status, 1)
+    assert.match(exhausted.stderr, /Registry command failed after 3 attempts/u)
+    assert.equal(await readFile(counter, 'utf8'), '3')
+  } finally {
+    await rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true })
+  }
+})
+
 test('clean package installs cannot inherit disabled native dependency builds', () => {
   const environment = nativeInstallEnvironment({
     NPM_CONFIG_IGNORE_SCRIPTS: 'true',