diff --git a/swh/lister/gnu/lister.py b/swh/lister/gnu/lister.py
index f64c4a1..c7c6ad6 100644
--- a/swh/lister/gnu/lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/gnu/lister.py
@@ -53,7 +53,9 @@ class GNULister(SimpleLister):
             'load-%s' % origin_type,
             kwargs.get('policy', 'oneshot'),
             url=origin_url,
-            artifacts=artifacts)
+            artifacts=artifacts,
+            retries_left=3,
+        )
 
     def safely_issue_request(self, identifier):
         """Bypass the implementation. It's now the GNUTree which deals with